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I'kKSKNTKI) liY 



THE LIFE AND TIMES 



OF 



ANDREW JACKSON 



By THOS. E. WATSON 

Author of "The Story of France," "Napoleon, " " Waterloo, " '* Bethany, " 

"Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson," "Handbook of Politics 

and Economics," "Socialists and Socialism," "Sketches 

of Roman History, " etc., etc. 



PRESS OF 

THE JEFFERSONIAN PUB. CO. 

THOMSON, GEORGIA 

1912 



■s^ 









Copyright. 1912 
THOMAS Ev WATSON 



INTRODUCTORY 



It had always been my impression that the biogra- 
phies of Andrew Jackson were either too eulogistic or 
too defamatory. 

Knowing human nature as I do, it did not seem to 
me that he could be so faultless as his admirers claimed, 
nor so wicked as his enemies alleged. 

Therefore, I made an independent investigation of 
my own, consulting original authorities, official docu- 
ments, and other sources of informatioli which had never 
been used. 

In this manner, a very human Andrew Jackson was 
discovered. 

I have told the truth about him, showing his defects 
as well as his virtues; his faults as well as his patriotic 
achievements. 

In this work of unveiling the real Andrew Jackson, I 
have been greatly aided by Col. John B. Brownlow, of 
Knoxville, Tennessee; by Col. Sam King, of Bristol, 
Tennessee; by W. D. Williams, of Greenville, Tennes- 
see; by the late Rolfe S. Saunders, who was for a long 
while the agricultural editor of the Scimitar, of Mem- 
phis, Tennessee; and by Mr. George A. Alexander, of 
Washington City. 

Col. Brownlow, particularly, made me acquainted 
with many out-of-print books, of the most interesting 
character, which none of the Jackson biographers 
consulted. 

Of course all the published biographies, the histories 
of the United States, and the memoirs of Jackson's dis- 
tinguished contemporaries were familiar to me, and have 
been utilized to the extent that they seemed to deserve. 

THOS. E. WATSOK 
August 21, 1912. 



^x 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth; Childhood; Jackson's father and mother; the Jacksons pagb 
during the Revolutionary War; Young Jackson sows 
wild oats ........ 9 

CHAPTER n. 
Andrew Jackson studies law; Characteristics as a young man 20 

CHAPTER HI. 

The State of Franklin; Glorious John Sevier; Andrew Jack- 
son leaves North Carolina and settles in Tennessee 31 

CHAPTER IV. 

Jackson practising law in Jonesboro; Buys a young negro 
woman; Origin of O. K.; Jackson stabs a fellow citizen; 
Moves to Nashville; Anecdote of the Indians . . 44 

CHAPTER V. 

Jackson boards with the widow jJonelson; Her daughter 
Rachel who is unhappily married; She and Jackson fall 
in love with each other; She elopes with Jackson; Her 
husband secures a divorce from her; Fatal consequences 
of Jackson's too hasty marriage . . . .54 

CHAPTER VI. 

Jackson prospers as a lawyer; Becomes a large land-owner; 
"Primitive conditions in Tennessee; Jackson as a gentle- 
man-gambler . • . . .76 

CHAPTER Vri. 

Jackson chosen delegate to Tennessee Constitutional Conven- 
tion; On committee to draft Constitution; Member of 
Congress; His vote against congratulatory address of 
Congress to President Washington; United States Sena- 
tor from Tennessee; resigns from the Senate; Elected 
.^udge Tennessee Supreme Court; Major General of the 
State militia; Quarrels with John Sevier; Seeks appoint- 
ment to Governorship of Louisiana Territory; Store- 
keeper; Chicken fighter and horse racer ... 89 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Horse race arranged between a horse owned by Jackson and 
one owned by Capt. Ervin; Race called off and forfeit 

(3) 



4 CONTENTS— Continued 

paid; Controversy over notes in which forfeit was paid; 
Jackson challenged by Thomas Swann; Ignores challenge; 
Canes Swann; McNairy takes Swann's part; Jackson 
denounces Charles Dickinson; Duel between McNairy 
and John Coffee; Coffee wounded; Dickinson's card in 
reply to Jackson; Dickinson challenged by Jackson; 
Accepts challenge; Duel is fought in Kentucky and Dick- 
inson is killed ........ 103 

CHAPTER IX. 

Aaron Burr's schemes to found empire; Visits Nashville; 
Guest at Jackson's home; Jackson fellow-conspirator with 
Burr; Abandons Burr when he learns of his treasonable 
designs; Jackson's home life; Race track anecdotes; 
Row with Silas Dinsmore, U. S. Indian agent . . 119 

CHAPTER X. 

Jackson leads troops against Florida; Anecdote of Rev. 
Learner Blackman; Forces against Florida dismissed; 
Jackson's return to Tennessee; Wins nickname of "Old 
Hickory;" Presentation of flag to returning troops by 
ladies of East Tennessee; Jackson's speech of accept- 
ance; Jackson threatened with financial ruin; Thomas 
H. Benton rescues him; Jackson acts as second for 
William Carroll in duel with Jesse Benton; Thomas H. 
Benton denounces Jackson; Jackson threatens to horse- 
whip him; Fight between the Benton brothers on one 
side and Jackson, John Coffee and Stokely Hayes on the 
other; Jackson badly wounded by Jesse Benton; Jesse 
Benton's irreconciliable spirit ..... 133 

CHAPTER XI. 

Battle of Buchanan's Station between whites and Indians; 

Massacre of Fort Mims . . . . . .148 

CHAPTER XII. 

Effect of the slaughter of Fort Mims; Georgians, Mississip- 
pians and Tennesseans take the field; Sketch of the 
Creeks; Their advancement in the arts of civilization; 
Indians defeated at Tallushatches by General Coffee and 
at Talladega by General Jackson; Pathetic incident of 
the Battle of Tallushatches; Accounts of the battles of 
Tallushatches and Talladega by Davy Crockett 16i 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Effect of the victories at Tallushatches and Talladega; Hilli- 
bees sue for peace; Slaughter of Hillibees by Tennessee 
troops; Jackson's row with Generals Cocke and White; 
Embarrassing position of General White; Causes Gen- 
eral Cocke's arrest at the head of his troops; He retires 
from the service; Is tried by court-martial and acquitted; 



CONTENTS— Continued 5 

Mutiny among Jackson's troops; Jackson a strict discip- 
linarian; His men go to their homes; Davy Crockett's 
accounts; New levies arrive; Indians attack Jackson's 
force at Enotachopco Creek; Colonel John Williams, of 
the Regular Army, joins Jackson with his regiment, 
through the persuasions of Judge Hugh L. White; Choc- 
taw Indians join Jackson; Unjustifiable execution of 
John Woods . .. .170 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Jackson's fine army; Crushes the Indians at Horse Shoe 
Bend; Sam Houston's bravery; William Weatherford, 
Indian Chief, hero of the Creek War; His career 
sketched; Anger of Colonel Williams at Jackson's official 
report of the battle of Horse Shoe Bend; Jackson defeats 
vVilliams in race for the United States Senate; Colonel 
King challenges Jackson to a duel .... 183 

CHAPTER XV. 
British preparing to attack New Orleans; Jackson scatters his 
troops; Jackson dines at Edward Livingston's; His dress 
and manners; Makes favorable impression on the ladies; 
Commodore Patterson warned of the approach of the " 
British fleet; British destroy American squadron on Lake 
Borgne; Jackson aroused; Gets down to work; Orders in 
his scattered forces; Reinforcements arrive; British land 
at Bien venue; Capture Major Villere; Villere escapes; 
Warns Jackson of the peril of New Orleans; Jackson 
rises to the occasion; To arms! The enemy is at hand! 
Jackson's motley army; He attacks the British at night; 
Takes position behind Rodriguez Canal; Errors of the 
British ••...... 196 

CHAPTER XVr. 
Numerical strength of the British army; Its magnificent 
makeup; Strength of Jackson's force; Battle of New 
Orleans; British storm the American works and are sig- 
nally defeated; Losses on both sides . . .209 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Rejoicings over the victory of New Orleans; Jackson crowned 
with laurel; Mrs. Jackson comes down to New Orleans; 
Jackson holds the city under martial law; Protest of a 
citizen; He is clapped into jail; Writ of habeas corpus 
Issued in his behalf; Jackson arrests the Judge who had 
issued the writ, and banishes him; Has six of his soldiers 
shot; Fined $1,000 for contempt of court; Heartily wel- 
comed on his return to Nashville; Triumphal progress to 
Washington; Created Major General of the Southern 
Division .. . . .218 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Results of the War of 1812; Autonomy of the Union pre- 
served; Conduuct of the New England States during the 



6 CONTENTS— Continued 

PAGE 

war; How the victory of New Orleans saved the Louis- 
iana Purchase to the United States; Jackson becomes 
Tennessee's richest citizen; Cause of the first Seminole 
War; Destruction of the Negro Port . . .225 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Encroachments upon Florida Indians by citizens of Georgia; 
War precipitated by General Gaines; Burning of Fowl- 
town; General Jackson rushes to arms; His army out of 
proportion to the task in hand; Seminoles ambush a 
party of soldiers on the Appalachicola; Another party 
attacked; General Jackson's arrival at Fort Scott; Gen- 
eral Mcintosh's aspirations; Jackson's army has its 
"Baptism of Fire;" Jackson seizes St. Marks; Arbuthnot, 
a Scotch merchant, taken into captivity; Indian Chiefs 
murdered; Jackson's army arrives at Suwannee, to find 
it deserted; Burning of Suwannee; End of the Seminole 
War; Court-martial and execution of Arbuthnot and 
Ambrister 236 

CHAPTER XX. 
Jackson takes possesion of Pensacola and Fort Barrancas; 
His explanation of this proceeding; Begins his home- 
ward march; Anger of Great Britain and Spain at Jack- 
son's high-handed conduct; They are pacified; Horrible 
massacre of friendly Indians at Cheha by Captain 
Obed Wright, of the Georgia Militia; Correspondence 
between Jackson and Governor Rabun in reference to 
the matter; Jackson finds a foeman worthy of his steel 248 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Jackson's secret purpose in going to war with the Seminoles; 
Opinion of Jackson's conduct in Florida held by mem- 
bers of President Monroe's Cabinet; Calhoun and Craw- 
ford would censure him; John Quincy Adams his staunch 
defender; Jackson comes off with flying colors; Spain 
cedes Florida to the United States; Jackson resigns his 
commission in the Army; Is appointed Governor of 
Florida by President Monroe; Arrests and' imprisons the 
Spanish ex-Governor at the complaint of a mulatto 
woman; President Monroe contemplates appointing Jack- 
son Minister to Russia; Thomas Jefferson's comment; 
Jackson resigns the Governorship and returns to the 
Hermitage ........ 254 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Life at the Hermitage; Jackson's household; The outcast, 
Henry Lee; Jackson as a host; His devotion to his wife; 
Character sketches of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John 
C. Calhoun, Thomas H. Benton and John Randolph . 264 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Other great men of the period; Compromises and principles 
upon which our Government was founded; Cavalier and 



CONTENTS— Continued 7 

PAGE 

Puritan; Quarrels between the sections; The Jay treaty; 
Constitutional Convention of 1787; Dissensions therein 276 

CHAPTER XXIY. 

The Federalists; They organize the Government and control it 
for twelve years; Tneir defeat; Coming in of the "Vir- 
ginia House;'' The JefEersonian Republicans; A National 
"machine;" Presidential nominations by the Congres- 
sional caucus system; William H. Crawford's oppor- 
tunity; Split among the Jefferson Republicans; Effort by 
politicians to overthrow the House of Virginia; Jackson 
sounded; Says he isn't fit, but at length consents to 
make the race; rlis competitors; Sketches of William H. 
Crawford and John Quincy Adams . . . .292 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Glen made great support of obscure friends; William H. 
Lewis' efforts in behalf of Andrew Jackson a striking 
example; He resolves to make Jackson President; Con- 
gressional caucus nominates Crawford; Jackson nomi- 
nated by the Legislature of Tennessee; Is elected United 
States Senator . . . . . , . 300 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Jackson's queer votes in the Senate; The Coleman letter; 
Progress of the Jacksonian campaign; Jackson's serenity 
and conciliatory manners; Refuses to intrigue for the 
Presidency; The result of the race; Jackson among the 
first to congratulate Adams on his election . . 306 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Presidential aspirant; Sad plight of William H. Craw- 
ford; charges against his "administration of the Treasury 
Department made by a Calhoun organ; His previous 
friendship for Calhoun turned into bitter hatred; George 
M. Troup; His determination to extinguish the Indian title 
to all lands held by them in Georgia in accordance with 
the agreement of 1802; Treaty at Indian Spring; Killing 
of General Mcintosh; President Adams sends General 
Gaines to Georgia; threat of Federal coercion; Governor 
Troup's bold stand; The Georgia Militia ordered to pre- 
pare for fight; President Adams backs down ' . 311 

CHAPTER XXVIII. • 

Jackson and Calhoun elected President and Vice-President; 
Aunt Rachel's death; A crushing blow; Jackson on his 
way to his inauguration; Incidents of the trip; He takes 
the reins of office . .321 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Charming Peggy O'Neal; Her gayety; Her social ostricism; 
Calhoun slated as Jackson's successor; Martin Van Buren's 



CONTENTS-Continued 



PA6B 



aspirations; Plans collision between Jackson and Calhoun; 
Becomes Mrs. Eaton's champion; Wives of Cabinet officers 
refuse to receive Mrs. Eaton; Cabinet resigns, or is dis- 
missed; Mrs. Calhoun's refusal to recognize Mrs. Eaton 
as her social equal kindles Jackson's implacable resent- 
ment; begins to seek for quarrel with Calhoun; Craw- 
ford's letter to John Forsyth; Rupture between Jackson 
and Calhoun; Anecdotes of the period . . 329 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The manufacturing system one of the ^causes of the inequali- 
ties of wealth in this country; The South never in favor 
of a protective tariff; The "Tariff of Abominations;" 
Georgia and South Carolina bitterly oppose it; South 
Carolina passes Nullification" ordinances; Jackson influ- 
enced in his course toward South Carolina by hatred of 
Calhoun; Issues proclamation of remonstrance and warn- 
ing against nullification; Makes preparations to collect 
the Custom-House duties in South Carolina; Empowered 
to use the military to enforce the law; Calhoun's defiance 
of Jackson; The protective principle surrendered; Civil 
war averted; Incidents and anecdotes of contemporary 
characters ••...... 345 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Money; The United States Bank; Clay's premature effort for 
its re-charatering; The bill introduced; Jackson proposes 
changes;,. Clay and Webster decline their acceptance; The 
bill passes Congress; Jackson vetoes it; Extracts from his 
Message; The Presidential campaign of 1832; Jackson 
re-elected; Orders removal of the Government deposits 
from the United States Bank; Duane's refusal; He is 
removed from office and succeeded by Taney; The deposits 
are checked out; Description of Jackson's heroic bearing 
in the matter ........ 364 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Jackson the originator of the spoils system in office; Ousts his 
political opponents; Two cruel examples; Pathetic end of 
James Monroe; Extracts from Prentiss' "Speech on Defal- 
cation;" Anecdotes . . . .377 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Benton's warfare upon the United States Bank; Calhoun's 
idea of State-built railroads; Close of Jackson's adminis- 
tration; Van Buren his successor; Failure of his adminis- 
tration; Jackson returns to the Hermitage; Interest and 
influence in subsequent political events; Joins the church; 
His health gives way; Closing scenes; His death .400 



Life and Times of Andrew Jackson 



CHAPTEE I. 

Andeew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767. 

There has been a hot dispute over the place of his 
birth, but the weight of the legal evidence favors South 
Carolina. 

His parents were immigrants from the northern part 
of Ireland, where the people are mainly Presbyterians in 
religion, and where there is an inter-mixture of Scotch 
blood; but there seems to be no positive proof that the 
Jacksons belonged to the over-worked family of Scotch- 
Irish. 

They were poor people, living at Carrickfergus, linen 
weavers by trade, and,, if any one of them had ever been 
prominent in any way, the story is lost. The most pains- 
taking researches made by enthusiastic hero-worshippers 
have failed to trace the Jackson lienage to a single cattle- 
lifting lord, or to any other member of that upper world 
into which the biographical snob is so eager to cast his 
anchor. 

The Jacksons were plain, common, industrious, honest 
folks, who held a respectable, independent place in their 
own community, but who were not so prosperous as to 
resist the temptation to try their fortunes in the New 
World. 

Hugh Jackson, brother to Andrew's father, had been 
a soldier in a British regiment, and had served in 
America. He was present at Braddock's defeat, and may 
have known Fausett, the Virginia scout, who is said to 
have given the rash British general the wound of which 
he died. (See note.) 

Apparently, Hugh Jackson became interested in the 
efforts of the Catawba Land Company to colonize its 

2aj 9 



10 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

holdings in the Carolinas, for upon his return to Ireland 
he began to get together a band of kinspeople, neighbors 
and friends, for the purpose of emigrating to America. 

Among those whom Hugh Jackson persuaded was his 
brother, Andrew. But, before everything could be got 
ready for the voyage, Hugh Jackson fell in love with the 
daughter of well-to-do parents, and married her ; and the 
wife of Hugh was so satisfactory in herself and her sur- 
roundings that the happy husband decided to remain in 
the old country — his wife having vetoed his emigration 
scheme. 

His brother Andrew, however, had probably already 
made his arrangements to go to America, and, having be- 
come unsettled, found it not so easy to sink back into his 
former life; therefore, after some hesitation, he and the 
three Crawfords, one of whom was the husband of his 
wife's sister, took ship for Charleston. 

Upon his coming to North Carolina, it seems that 
Andrew Jackson was too poor to buy land. Instead, 
therefore, of locating in the Waxhaw Settlement, where 
most of the immigrants from Carrickfergus had bought 
homes, he went to Twelve-mile Creek, a branch of the 
Catawba. 

Here he was seven miles distant from the Waxhaw 
Settlement, and was face to face with the gigantic task of 
carving out a farm from the wilderness. 

The historian, the orator, the painter, have been 
eager in the duty of blazoning the deeds of our pioneer 
missionaries, law-makers and soldiers. The names of 
these heroes live, and deserve to live, in letters of light 
upon the records of our country. But, to our pioneer 



Note: 

"The Virginia provincials, under Washington, by their knowl- 
edge of border warfare, and cool courage, alone saved the day. 

Braddock was himself mortally wounded by a provincial named 
Fausett. A brother of the latter had disobeyed the silly orders of 
the General, that the troops should not take position behind the 
trees, when Braddock rode up and struck him down. Fausett, who 
saw the whole transaction, immediately drew up his rifle and shot 
him through the lungs." 

"The Great West," Howe. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 11 

farmers, justice has never been done. Theirs was a 
combat calling for every soldierly trait of John Smith 
and Miles Standish. The patient courage which swung 
the axe, in the depths of primeval woods, was no less 
heroic than the bravery which made the musket conquer. 
The toil of the warrior's march was slight by compari- 
son with the homely, but exhausting, work of preparing 
the soil for the sowing of seed. The arrows of the red 
men were not more deadly to the soldier than were the 
fevers which rose from the swamps and pulled down the 
settler as he struggled to open out his farm. 

In the South, in the East, in the West, the story of 
the pioneer plowman of America is one of dauntless 
courage, of quiet heroism. He found the New World a 
wilderness and he has well-nigh made it a garden. His 
axe, his spade, his hoe, his plow, his muscle, his brain, 
his very heart and soul have all been enlisted in the 
work; and never once have his lips uttered the craven's 
plea for '* Protection." Never once has he gone to the 
doors of legislation begging special favors. Never once 
has he lied to government and people for the purpose of 
securing a selfish advantage at the expense of his fel- 
lowman. 

No. He has not only not demanded of the government 
either Protection or Privilege, but he has submitted — 
yes, for one hundred years he has submitted! — to be 
robbed of a portion of his annual produce in order that 
our Infant Industry Capitalists should be able to build 
up the corporate power which now, in the form of 
Trusts, dominates the Eepublic and secures the lion's 
share of all the wealth created in every field of industry. 

Like many another pioneer of the American wilder- 
ness, Andrew Jackson found the task too hard. He died 
under the strain. The impression which his famous son 
had as to the immediate cause of his death was that he 
ruptured a blood vessel in the handling of a heavy log. 

The body of the hero who had fallen in the fight for 
his wife and little ones — the fight to make a home for 
them in the wilderness — was buried in the graveyard of 



12 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the Waxhaw Settlement church. In after years, when 
efforts were made to identify the spot it could not be 
done. 

According to local tradition, there was held at the 
cabin-home of the dead man the grewsome "wake" 
which was customary among the Irish in the Old Co1m- 
try. Eelatives from the Waxhaw settlement came out to 
Jackson's "clearing," when they learned that he was no 
more; and, after preparing the body for burial, their 
grief gradually wore itself out, and the whiskey-jug be- 
came the ruling factor of the occasion. As lamentation 
gave place to' revelry, it is said that "the corpse came in 
for his share of the refreshments." What this may 
mean, each reader shall judge for himself. 

The same tradition claims that the body was hauled 
from the cabin to the graveyard upon a rough wooden 
frame or sled, and that such was the disorder of the jour- 
ney that the corpse was jolted off the sled and "tumbled 
on its face in a little bottom," on the banks of Waxhaw 
Creek, near the crossing. 

The man who was riding the horse, which was hitched 
to the sled, had not known that he had lost his load until 
one of the funeral party in advance, happening to look 
back, saw "the sled bouncing up and down, in a very 
light way." 

They had to go back miles before they came to the 
spot where the body had rolled off the sled. 

The numerous biographers of Andrew Jackson have 
shunned this local tradition as something entirely too 
horrible to put in print; yet books are only valuable to 
the extent that they tell the truth. The story is useful 
as an illustration of the extreme roughness of frontier 
conditions at that time, the poverty of the Jacksons, and 
the rude simplicity of border funerals. 

The immigrant had gone into the unbroken wilder- 
ness to build his log cabin ; and apparently there was no' 
wagon road from his "clearing" to the Waxhaw Settle- 
ment. 

The use of the wooden frame or sled to carry the 




Funeral of Jackson's father 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 13 

body on, would indicate more strongly the lack of a road 
than the lack of a wagon, for, even though the Jacksons 
had no such vehicle, the Waxhaw relatives would have 
brought one if there had been a passable road. The 
corpse, tumbling off the sled and being left behind on its 
face in the little bottom, is uncanny, but to the dead the 
uncanny is not the uncommon. 

The brilliant soldier — son of the Emperor Charles 
V — Don John of Austria, who broke the sea-power of 
the Turks in the battle of Lepanto, died dismally in the 
Netherlands ; and his body was carried On horse-back to 
Spain, in two sacks — half of the body in one sack and 
half in the other. * 

When Abraham Lincoln died, his face discolored so 
rapidly that those in charge, to save the feelings of the 
people who would want to gaze upon the revered fea- 
tures, painted out the shocking discoloration; and, thus 
artificially masked, the martyred President waa borne 
to his tomb. 



The wido"w Jackson and her two little boys did not go 
back to the distant, lonely cabin on Twelve-mile Creek. 
From the church-ground where the husband and father 
had been buried, they went to the home of George Mc- 
Camie, who had married Mrs. Jackson's sister. Here, 
within a fortnight of the funeral, a son was born to the 
widow ; and this son she named Andrew, after his father. 

As soon as she was able to travel, the widow Jackson 
left the McCamie home and went to live with James 
Crawford, her brother-in-law. 

Mrs. Crawford was an invalid, and Mrs. Jackson took 
charge of the Crawford housekeeping. Thus she and 
two of her boys lived for several years, the oldest son, 
Hugh, remaining with George McCamie. 

The family name of Andrew Jackson's mother was 
Hutchinson. She had, at least, a primary English edu- 
cation, for it was she who taught Andrew to read. That 
she was a woman of strong, lovable traits, is proven by 



14 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the sound advice she impressed upon the mind of her 
great son, and by the passionate attachment to her which 
he carried throughout his life. 

After the battle of New Orleans, when the victor had 
been crowned with laurel in the Cathedral and acclaimed 
like a demi-god through the streets, it was of his mother 
that he spoke to the officers whom he was about to dis- 
band — thier glorious work being done. 

** Gentlemen, if only she could have lived to see this 
day!" 

As you follow the narrative of Andrew Jackson's 
career, you will hear him say many things that you will 
not approve, will see him do many things which you can- 
not applaud, but when you recall that at the very top- 
notch of his success and his pride, his heart stayed in the 
right place, and was sore because his mother could not 
be there to gladden her old eyes with the glory of her 
son — you will forgive him much in his life that was harsh 
and cruel and utterly wrong. 

During each Winter, for two or three years, after he 
had reached the age of seven, Andrew Jackson was sent 
to the old-field school of a Mr. Branch. After this, he 
attended the select school which a Presbyterian preacher, 
Dr. David Humphreys, taught in the Waxhaw settle- 
ment. He appears to have been going to this higher 
school in the spring of 1780, when the inroad of Tarleton 
created a panic in that portion of the Carolinas. At some 
later period of his youth, he is said to have attended the 
old Queen College or Seminary at Charlotte a couple of 
terms, but the time is not definitely known. 

As to education, therefore, it may be safely stated 
that Andrew Jackson enjoyed much more than the ordi- 
nary advantage of a back-woods boy of his time. At the 
age of ten, he had become so good a reader that he was 
often chosen to read the newspaper to the assembled 
neighbors ; and he remembered with pride, in after years, 
that he had thus had the honor of "reading out loud" 
the Declaration of Independence upon his arrival in the 
Waxhaw Settlement. For a lad of ten this was, indeed, 
something to remember with honest satisfaction. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 15 

He also learned to write "a good hand," which can be 
easily read even to this day: he was well up in arithme- 
tic, and was fond of geography: grammar he detested, 
as most of us did. While yet a school-boy he wrote a 
composition which was in the nature of a patriotic proc- 
lamation, reminding his countrymen that they must ex- 
pect occasional defeats and that they could hope to win 
only by steady effort and resolute courage. 

From the advent of Tarleton, in 1780, and the Buford 
Massacre, until the surrender of Cornwallis, the widow 
Jackson and her boys were tossed hither and thither in 
the whirlwind of the Revolutionary War. The people of 
the Carolinas were divided, as they were in other States, 
some being Tories and in favor of remaining subjects 
of Great Britain, while the majority \^ere Whigs, and in 
favor of Independence. 

The feud between the two local factions waxed bitter, 
splitting into savage groups almost every neighborhood, 
and often setting in hostile array, the one against the 
other, members of the same family. 

The troops sent over to this country by King George 
committed many atrocities^ some of which historians 
have shrunk from recording, but it is also true that many 
a nameless horror was perpetrated by our own people 
upoii each other. In the later stages of the conflict, 
almost no mercy was shown by Tory to Whig, or by Whig 
to Tory. 

After Gates' disastrous defeat at Camden, Andrew 
Jackson made his home for a while at the house of Mrs. 
Wilson, a distant connection of Mrs. Jackson. This lady 
lived a few miles from Charlotte. During his stay with 
her, Andrew made himself useful pulling fodder, going 
to mill, driving cows to pasture, gathering vegetables for 
the table, carrying in the wood, and taking farm tools to 
the blacksmith shop to be mended. 

Mrs. Wilson had a son who became Andrew Jack- 
son's playmate and friend; and this son, who was after- 
ward a prominent minister of the Gospel, used to relate 
that whenever young Jackson went to the blacksmith 



16 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

shop lie would bring back with him some new weapon, 
spear, club, tomahawk, or grass blade with which to kill 
the British. 

Dr. Wilson remembered having told his mother one 
day, when speaking of Jackson, "Mother, Andy will fight 
his way in the world." 

A girl of the neighborhood, who became in due time 
Mrs. Smart, happened to see Andrew Jackson as he 
passed along the road, on his way to the home of Mrs. 
Wilson. 

She described the lad as being almost a scarecrow. 
He was riding a little grass-fed pony or colt, which was 
so small that the long thin legs of "the gangling fellow," 
Jackson, could almost meet under the horse's belly. The 
rider wore a wide-brimmed hat which flapped down over 
his face, which was yellow and worn. His figure was 
covered with dust, and as this Knight of the Sorrowful 
Countenance galloped along the road, he and his shabby 
little hol-se presented the forlornest spectacle that had 
ever greeted the laughing eyes of the girl who was to 
become known in Jacksonian annals as Mrs. Susan 
Smart. 

Hugh Jackson, the oldest of the three boys, joined the 
band of patriots which was raised and equipped, at his 
own expense, by that noble leader, Colonel William R. 
Davie, of South Carolina. Only sixteen years of age, 
Hugh Jackson left the field hospital, where he had been 
suffering from fever, and joined in the assault upon 
Stono Ferry. The excitement, the exertion, the heat of 
the day (June 20, 1779), brought on a relapse, and the 
gallant youth died. 

As to' Andrew Jackson, he himself said : 

"Take it altogether, I saw and heard a good deal of 
war in those days, but did nothing toward it myself worth 
mention. ' ' 

However, he further stated that he acted for Colonel 
Davie as mounted orderly, or messenger, "being a good 
rider and familiar with all the roads in those regions." 

He witnessed the battles of Hanging Rock and Hob- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 17 

kirk 's Mill, and took part in a skirmish with the Tories at 
the house of Captain Sands. 

Andrew and Robert Jackson were taken prisoners, 
and it was while so held that the boys were ordered, Rob- 
ert first and then Andrew, to clean the boots of one of 
Tarleton's lieutenants. Both refused, and to each was 
dealt a savage sabre-cut which had much to do with Rob- 
ert 's death soon afterward, and which gave to Andrew a 
scar and a hatred which he bore to his grave. 

To the rescue of her boys, came Mother Jackson, she 
who was "as gentle as a dove and as brave as a lioness." 

The lads were so young, and were in such a desperate 
plight with smallpox, that the British officers were per- 
haps glad to get rid of such an encumbrance ; at any rate 
they were released or exchanged, and the dismal group, 
the mother and her sick boys, journeyed back to their 
home. 

But Robert was already so far gone that he died; and 
when the smallpox left Andrew, he was a mere skeleton. 
''It took me all the rest of the year (1781) to recover my 
strength and get flesh enough to hide my bones." 

To the sacred cause of liberty, Elizabeth Jackson had 
already given two of her sons. The third had barely 
escaped a like fate. But the golden-hearted woman was 
not to be cast down, or taught cowardly prudence. No 
sooner was Andrew out of danger, than she sent him to 
the home of Joseph White, another brother-in-law, and 
set out, herself, to carry food and medicine to the sick 
and wounded patriots who were confined in the British 
hulks in Charleston Harbor. 

Braver, it may be, than the soldier himself is the bat- 
tlefield nurse who brings water to his parched lips, ban- 
dages to his bleeding wound, tender ministrations to his 
dying hours. 

May it yet come to pass that some time, some time, 
in the unfolding of higher and better things, these angels 
of Mercy, the Good Women of the Christian Nations, may 
be able to rush in between the lines, as once happened in 
the days of old, and stay the hands lifted to shed human 
blood ! 



18 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Elizabeth Jackson, in the spirit of consecration, went 
to what seemed to her the post of duty, thinking nothing 
of the cost to herself. 

They were in prison — her neighbors, friends, com- 
patriots — and she did visit them. She brought to the 
suffering prisoners words of comfort; messages from 
horpe ; the motherly sympathy which heals like a balsam ; 
the kind word which is sweeter than myrrh. 

Then the ministering angel, the best of all created 
things, a good woman, passed out of the ship, carrying 
with her the deadly fever which knew no difference be- 
twixt the good and the bad. After a brief illness, she 
died, and she was buried near Charleston; but her dust 
lies in a grave that cannot be found. 

After the loss of his mother (in the fall of 1781), 
Andrew Jackson remained with Joseph White, a saddler 
by trade, helping him in his shop, in the making and 
mending of saddles and harness. At the same time, he 
read everything he could lay his hands on — books, pam- 
phlets and newspapers. His uncle's father was a local 
magistrate, possessed of a book of law forms and rules 
of common practice. Most young men would lay such a 
book underneath a volume of Sermons, and then spread 
a layer of dust over both ; but Andrew Jackson afterward 
said that he read and re-read the law book until he knew 
it by heart. 

[There is a tradition that Jackson's leave-taking of the 
saddler's trade was of a sudden and volcanic character. 
He happened to make a mis-lick with his awl and drove 
it into his leg. In a burst of anger and pain, he swore 
that he would make his living some other way, and he 
quit the shop. I am indebted for this note to Mr. John 
M. Thompson, of Concord, N. C, whose grandfather, 
Faulkner, was a cousin to Andrew Jackson. Mr. Thomp- 
son relates that the Waxhaw schoolhouse, which Jackson 
attended, was afterward bought by his (Thompson's) 
grandmother, and was moved to her place. It was first 
used as a shuck house, and when the roof had decayed and 
gone, the logs were used by Mr. Thompson's father to 
make the floor of a hogpen.] 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 19 

But at this period in his growth an unfortunate thing 
happened. The death of his father and his brothers had 
left Andrew Jackson the heir-at-law to a considerable 
part of the estate of Hugh Jackson, of Carrickfergus, his 
grandfather. 

The amount, some fifteen hundred or two thousand 
dollars, was just about enough to unsettle the average 
young man, jostling him out of the routine of dull, mo- 
notonous industry— saddle-mending, for example. 

The legal representative of the Hugh Jackson estate, 
in America, was the William Barton, of Charleston, at 
whose house Elizabeth Jackson had died. Why it was 
that he turned over the money to the young man before 
he became of age is not explained. Perhaps Andrew 
wanted the money, and had made up his mind to get it. 
If so, the conduct of Barton is comprehensible. When- 
ever Andrew Jackson wanted a thing and made up his 
mind to get it, he could become a most troublesome citi- 
zen. At all events, Mr. Barton paid over the money to 
the boy, and the boy sowed wild oats with it. 

He bought a fine horse, and tine equipments for the 
horse; he bought fine raiment for his own person, in- 
cluding a gold watch ; he bought a fine pair of pistols, so 
that he would be ready, in case it became desirable to 
shoot somebody. In short, he went to going all the gaits 
of a fast young man, until his money was gone. 

At the last, he made a bet which would have swept 
away even his horse, had he lost ; but luck favored him ; 
he won ; and it is a convincing proof of his inborn good 
sense that he immediately paid up his debts, and rode 
his fine horse away from Charleston and its allurements. 



20 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

CHAPTEE II. 

Studying Law! 

To that stage had Andrew Jackson come, in 1785, 
steered by the unseen forces which govern the world. It 
is doubtful whether he himself could have explained how 
he happened to drift into that profession rather than 
some other. 

In the finding of one's life-work there is much more 
of feeling around in the dark than is generally supposed. 
Cervantes did not begin to write Don Quixote until he 
had tried success by many routes, and had landed on the 
wrong side of a prison door. Bacon's best work was 
done after his disgrace as an officer of state, and after 
Queen Elizabeth had expressed the weighty opinion that 
he didn't know much law. 

Oliver Goldsmith, the neglected physician, wrote 
''The Deserted Village" and ''The Vicar of Wakefield" 
after he had waited in vain for patients bringing fees. 

Had Napoleon been a success as an author, he might. 
never have meddled with politics. 

Had Genral Lew Wallace been a success as a soldier, 
he might never have written "Ben Hur." 

Had U. S. Grant been a money-maker at the outbreak 
of the Civil War, he might never have commanded on the 
winning side at Appomattox. 

Had Sam Houston been able to wear with credit the 
harness of social and political existence in Tennessee, he 
might never have thrown himself amid the wilder men of 
the Southwest and won fame as a builder of empire ! 

Patrick Henry's failure in other fields shunted him 
into the legal profession ; and Jefferson 's partial failure 
as a lawyer became a stepping-stone into the higher call- 
ing of practical statesmanship. 

Happy is the man who can find out, early in life, the 
work which he is best fitted to do. Among the most 
pitiable of the wretched is he who grows old at a task 
which, too late, he learns was not set for him. 

The gray-haired school-teacher or commonplace 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 21 

preacher, who realizes that he should have been a mer- 
chant, lawyer, doctor or civil engineer, is pathetic. To 
know what to try to do is the great problem, and it may 
be that even the men who succeed in their chosen calling 
could have rendered mankind better service in some 
other field. 

Henry Brougham's shrewd old mother bewailed his 
quitting the House of Commons to don the robes of Lord 
Chancellor : Dr. Samuel Johnson lamented the fate which 
never gave him a chance to try his hand in Parliament : 
Edmund Burke writhed under Goldsmith's famous lash- 
ing of him "who to party gave up what was meant for 
mankind. ' ' 

What is it that draws the most ambitious men of 
modern times into "the study of law!" 

The reward, of course. All things considered, no 
other profession offers so great a return upon the invest- 
ment of time, talent and industry. 

While the nations are standing in arms, clothed in- 
steel from head to foot, the purpose is not so much to. 
fight as to discourage attack from without and insurrec- 
tion from within. The standing army gives the education 
whose watchword is "Obey!" It cultivates the class- 
pride and prejudice upon which caste rule is built. It 
interests millions of citizens in the maintenance of "Law 
and Order" — the law which imposes the yoke of the 
ruling caste and the order which restrains its victims 
from revolt. 

The military profession, therefore, is one which irre- 
sistibly attracts very many aspirants to influence, to po- 
sition, to power; but even the military profession does 
not win over so many ambitious young men as does ' ' the 
study of the law." 

In the building up of our civilization we have compli- 
cated matters to such an extent that the lawyer is indis- 
pensable, almost omnipotent. 

Does the layman know anything about his own rights 
as a citizen ? Very little. Upon the simplest things only 
is he informed. At every turn he finds himself under the 



22 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

necessity of getting help from the lawyer. Great is the 
corporation — the bank, the railroad, the trust — but the 
corporation dares not move a step without a lawyer in 
the pilot-house. 

From the Justice's Court in the rural district and the 
Mayor's Court in the village, all the way up to Presiden- 
tial policies and Governmental problems, the lawyer is 
the doctor who must be called in to look at the tongue of 
the difficulty, and to write out a prescription. 

In the business world the lawyer levies his tribute 
upon the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the 
hayseed farmer and the silk-hat financier. 

Our Wall Street Money-Kings would no more think 
of organizing a rascally scheme of High Finance with- 
out the help of lawyers than the buccaneers of old would 
have thought of flying the pirate flag without guns on 
board. 

In the political world the lawyer is omnipresent, in- 
dispensable. 

Who organizes the Machine and steers the Boss on 
his cruise, keeping him off the reefs and bars of the 
Criminal Code? 

The lawyer. 

Who maps out the campaign, devises a fraud upon 
the people which the statute cannot quite reach, and then, 
after the election has been stolen from the people, shows 
the Boss how to keep the stolen goods in defiance of right 
and in spite of the legal proceedings! 

The lawyer. 

Who is it that the beneficiaries of class-legislation 
naturally select to advance their claims, voice their de- 
mands, guard their interests in the legislatures of states, 
in the Congress of the United States, in the Cabinet of 
the President? 

The lawyer. 

Under our system, so complex has it become, the man 
who wants to do right doesn't know how. Except in the 
simplest transactions, a lawyer must show him how. If, 
on the contrary, a bad man wants to do wrong, but wants 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 23 

to escape punishment, he needs, and can generally get, a 
lawyer to show him the way. 

The innocent man, accused of crime, needs a lawyer; 
is not safe without one, and may be convicted, even then, 
if he happens to employ a sorry one, who can be out- 
witted by the prosecution. 

The guilty man, accused of crime, needs a lawyer; is 
not safe without one ; and if he employs a good one, while 
the prosecution is managed by a sorry one, the jury may 
be forced to turn him loose, although they feel that he is 
*'as guilty as a dog." 

, Thus, looked at from the standpoint of mere ambi- 
tion, sordid selfishness, the ''study of law" powerfully 
attracts young men who want to get on in the world. 

But there is another point of view — thank God ! 

It is not every student of Blackstone or Coke who 
licks his chops, by anticipation, over the sweets of mental 
prostitution. 

It is not every student of the law who means to be- 
come the jackal to the lion, the doer of dirty work for 
hire, the seller of divinely fashioned genius to the highest 
bidder — with the morals of a harlot, without that excuse 
of dire necessity which the harlot can often give. 

In most cases the boy who comes to the study of the 
law is actuated by nobler motives, a higher purpose. A 
generous ambition to gain knowledge, to fit himself for 
a leader's place among men, to arm himself with the 
weapons which enable him to fight the battles of the 
weak and to defend the right against the wrong, find 
place in his mind and heart, just as they do in the beauti- 
ful language of the oath which he must take. 

Almost in the very words — and quite in the identical 
spirit — that ancient Chivalry solemnly swore the Knight- 
Errant to his duty, pledging him to champion the cause 
of the weak and the oppressed, the oath of office conse- 
crates the young lawyer to his work by the same holy 
vows. For it must be remembered that no profession 
has a more glorious tradition and heritage than that of 
the law. 



21 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The Crusaders who have in modern times gone forth 
to redeem the Holy Sepulchre of Truth from the Infidel 
have been led, by whom? 

The lawyer. 

The Knight-Errant who rode forth to break the 
chains, lift the yoke, batter down the prison door of the 
captive, the weak, the oppressed, has been, whom? 

The lawyer. 

Great was Mirabeau, but he dreamt only of changing 
France into a constitutional monarchy, leaving Divine 
Eight on the throne and hereditary Privilege intrenched. 

It was Danton, the lawyer, who led the Revolution, 
and sketched the Democratic state, in which all the peo- 
ple should rule for the benefit of all. 

It was the lawyer who led in the long, hard fight for 
Civil liberty in England; the lawyer who slew the mon- 
sters of her Criminal Code; the lawyer who armed the 
private citizen with school-book and ballot. 

It was the lawj^er who pleaded Ireland's cause at the 
bar of Public Opinion, wrung from British intolerance 
Religious Freedom, compelled the recognition of the 
Irishman's rights in Irish land, and so won upon the 
conscience and the fear of the ruling caste that the tri- 
umph of the Cause of Ireland has become a question of 
time rather than a matter of doubt. 

In our own history, whose record is better than that 
of the lawyer? 

Would our forefathers ever have gone to war with 
Great Britain had they awaited the lead of Benjamin 
Franklin, John Dickinson and George Washington? 

Never in the world. 

Not until Patrick Henry and Dabney Carr and 
Thomas Jefferson and James Otis and John Adams and 
Alexander Hamilton, the hot-headed young lawyers, had 
fired the woods, and the flames were leaping onward with 
a rush which none could stop, did those more cautious 
and conservative citizens, Franklin, Dickinson and 
Washington, commit themselves to the movement of the 
Colonies against the Mother Country. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 25 

The lawyer lit the signal fires of that Revolution, the 
lawyer wrote the Declaration of Independence, the law- 
yer framed the Constitution, the lawyer organized the 
Government. The lawyer struck down Feudalism in 
America, wrote the statute for Religious Liberty, swung 
wide the doors of individual opportunity, and forged, 
ready for use, every weapon against tyranny which a 
free people need to protect themselves from oppression. 

Even at that early period there was another side to 
the shield, not so bright as that which I have presented ; 
but, throughout the Revolutionary era, the patriotic 
service of the lawyer was so splendidly conspicuous that 
the reverse side of the shield was as the spot on the sun. 



When Andrew Jackson rode into Salisbury, N. C. 
(1785), and put up at the Rowan House, the old-fashioned 
tavern, he was eighteen years old, and had already gone 
to the school of experience, to an extent which few of his 
future competitors for national honor had equaled. 

His boyhood had breathed in the hot atmosphere of 
war. The sound of musketry, of rifle fire, of cannon play, 
had been familiar to his ear. The sight of bloodshed, 
scenes of carnage, the ruthless deeds of Tory hate and 
Whig revenge had burnt their impressions upon mind 
and heart. The dangers amid which he had lived, the 
hardships which he had endured, the lust of victory and 
the panic of defeat, tl^e sudden flight from the deadly at- 
tack, the narrow escape from awful death, the loss of his 
brothers and mother, the imprisonment and maltreat- 
ment of himself, the wild disorders and appalling cruel- 
ties of foreign invasion added to Civil strife — all these 
things were factors in the molding of Andrew Jackson. 

When he entered the office of Spruce McCay to read 
law under that influential attorney, he had already given 
evidence of the traits of character which afterward made 
him one of the best loved and best hated men that ever 
lived. 

It had already been shown that he would fight at the 

3 a j 



26 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

drop of a hat ; that he was headstrong, impatient of con- 
tradiction, and overbearing. Weaker boys who turned to 
him for protection got it. He would "take up" for the 
small boy, and, if need were, wage his battle. He was 
high-tempered, quick as powder, hard to get along with — 
and the boy who laughed at him because he had what was 
called "a slobber mouth" had to run or fight. 

He had shown that he was fona of outdoor life, out- 
door sport, games, and recreations. He loved to hunt, 
was a good shot, an expert horseman and rode admir- 
ably, excelled in running and jumping. Some say that 
even when thrown by a stronger man he "wouldn't stay 
throwed;" others relate that John Lewis could out-jump 
him and throw him down; and that when John Lewis 
threw him, Andy did "stay throwed." That he was be- 
lieved to have a generous nature is proven by the fact 
that he is said to have been a great friend to this same 
John Lewis. 

The eighteen-year-old Jackson had already shown his 
fondness for gambling at cards, on chicken fights and 
horse races, on the throw of a dicebox, on almost any sort 
of game or contest. He was known also as a wild young 
fellow who would drink too much whiskey, indulge in too 
many coarse practical jokes, and who, when inflamed by 
anger, could out-curse anybody in all the regions round 
about. 

During his stay of two years in Salisbury Jackson's 
character continued to unfold itself along those lines. He 
was not much of a student ; it is not recorded that he did 
any office work for Spruce McCay; nor does any biog- 
rapher explain how it was that he paid for his board and 
lodging. 

It seems that he kept his horse, and that he was active 
in horse-racing, cock-fighting, card-playing circles ; but it 
is not probable that he relied upon his winnings to pay 
his way. 

How, then, did he do it? 

Perhaps his work as school-teacher should be assigned 
to this period of his life, and it is possible that some rem- 
nant of his legacy may have tided him over. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 27 

Illustrative of the rougher side of his character is the 
practical joke which he played upon the eminent respect- 
abilities of Salisbury by sending cards of invitation to the 
Christmas ball to two notorious strumpets of the town. 
The unclean birds came to the ball, as per Andrew Jack- 
son 's cards, and the uproar in the fowl-house was consid- 
erable. But Andy was a great favorite with the ladies^ 
as "wild" young men have ever been — and he succeeded 
in getting rid of the disturbers and at the same time 
holding the admiration of the eminently respectable. 

Another anecdote of the period represents him en- 
gaged with boon companions in a carousal, which lasted 
throughout the night and wound up with a general 
smashing of all the furniture in the room. 

A flood of light is poured upon his standing with the 
''unco good and rigidly righteous'' at this time by the 
exclamation of the old lady of Salisbury, who, on being 
told, forty years later, that Andrew Jackson was a can- 
didate for President, cried out : 

"What! Jackson up for President? Jackson? An- 
drew Jackson? The Jackson that used to live in Salis- 
bury? Why, when he was here, he was such a rake that 
my husband would not bring him into the house! It is 
true, he might have taken him out to the stable to weigh 
horses for a race, and might drink a glass of whiskey 
with him there. Well, if Andrew Jackson can be Presi- 
dent, anybody can." 

From the office of Judge Spruce McCay, Jackson 
went to that of Colonel John Stokes, where he continued 
his studies until he thought himself ready for admission 
to the Bar. In the spring of 1787 he applied for and re- 
ceived his license to practise law. 

For a year after his admission to the Bar he appears 
to have lived at a village, Martinsville, N. C, where two 
friends of his kept a store. Tradition says that he helped 
them in running the business, and that he accepted a local 
position as constable or deputy-sheriff. At any rate, he 
realized soon that he was gaining no foothold in North 
Carolina, and he made up his mind to try his fortune in 



28 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the new country beyond the mountains, where Robertson 
and Donelson and Sevier were planting the beginning of 
another state on the Cumberland. 

Before we follow Jackson into Tennessee, let us 
pause ' ' to take his picture. ' ' 

He was tall and slender — standing six feet and one 
inch in height. Carrying himself straight as a ramrod, 
and stepping with a quick, springing clearlift walk, he 
made the impression upon the observer that he was as 
active as a cat — lithe, sinewy, tough, and with not a lazy 
bone in his body. 

He had a shock of red hair, and a pair of fine blue 
eyes, which rested unwinkingly upon one in conversation, 
and which blazed when he was aroused. His face was 
sallow, freckled, long, thin, angular, with a fighting jaw. 

His bearing toward men was open, frank, confident, 
self-assertive. 

Toward women he was deferential, most attentive and 
polite. Surprising as it may seem, there is no room for 
doubt that Andrew Jackson's manner toward ladies was 
from the first, captivating to a marked degree. By the 
time he reached the age of eighteen he had developed a 
taste for good dressing. The same trait which led him 
to want the finest-looking horse, the richest caparison, 
the best pistols and guns, the best dogs and game chick- 
ens, led him to choose for himself a style of wearing ap- 
parel, both in the material and the make, which was far 
above the average of the backwoods. 

Some of his lady friends went to the courthouse the 
day he was examined for admission to the Bar, and one 
of these has left a description of him as he then ap- 
peared. 

Those who recall Albert Gallatin's statement that 
Jackson, when in Congress, looked and dressed like an 
uncouth backwoodsman may not be able to reconcile his 
testimony with that of Mrs. Anne Rutherford, who says : 

'*He always dressed neat and tidy, and carried him- 
self as if he was a rich man's son. 

''The day he was licensed he had on a new suit, with 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 29 

a broadcloth coat, ruffled shirt, and other garments in 
the best of fashion." 

There is no disputing about taste; and the reader is- 
left to the conclusion that a style of dressing which ap- 
peared to be the best of fashion to a country girl of 
North Carolina may have seemed ''irregular" to such a 
cosmopolitan gentleman as Gallatin. 

The red breeches of Thomas Jefferson had been "the 
best of fashion ' ' in Paris, but when he wore them in New 
York, as a member of Washington's Cabinet, social 
rumblings were heard and social upheavals feared. 



30 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Horse-Shoe Knights of Virginia, who rode gal- 
lantly in the train of royalist Governor Spottswood to 
the summits of the Blue Ridge, and gazed from those 
heights upon the unexplored wilderness beyond, were 
thought to have done a notable deed. It was boasted of, 
as the mariner of ancient times boasted of having car- 
ried his ship beyond the Pillars of Hercules. 

The passes over the Blue Ridge are as prosaic, now- 
adays, as are the Straits of Gibraltar, but for many a 
year after the golden spurs of the Virginia Cavaliers had 
grown cold, a veil of mystery and the spell of danger 
hung over the mountain ranges which separated the sea- 
board colonies from the Western wilds. 

Traders, trappers and hunters came and went. Indi- 
vidual daring, the spirit of adventure, the craving for 
excitement and the greed for gain forced the secret of 
the wilderness; and gradually there spread among the 
people of the older communities a knowledge of the won- 
derful country beyond the Alleghanies. 

Land-grabbing corporations brought on the war be- 
tween England and France which led to the downfall of 
French dominion in America, and thus paved the way for 
the War of Independence. 

Land-grabbing corporations multiplid their activities 
after the Revolutionary conflict was ended. A drag-net 
of land-grants was thrown over vast regions where bears 
and Indians still roamed the woods which they had occu- 
pied from time immemorial. 

Just as young George Washington had acted as 
advance courier for a land-grabbing corporation in 
the forests of Ohio, so Daniel Boone served as a 
land-grabber in penetrating to the dark and bloody 
ground which became Kentucky. 

David Henderson, James Robertson, John Sevier, 
John Danelson, William Blount, Isaac Shelby, George 
Rogers Clarke, George Washington, Andrew Jackson — 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 31 

they were land speculators, land-grabbers — the last one of 
them. And in their hunger for land they drove back bar- 
barism, and planted the standards of civilization, fought 
the hard fight against savage nature and savage man — 
winning the battle at as great a sacrifice of toil and blood 
as any struggle for the progress of the race has ever cost. 

In what is now Tennessee the first permanent colo- 
nists were James Robertson and John Donelson, to whom 
soon came John Sevier and those unconquered men of 
North Carolina who, having been routed by Tyron's roy- 
alists at Almance, were "not cowed down, but, like the 
mammoth, shook the bolt from their brow and crossed 
the mountains. ' ' * 

These men of the frontier held the lists for civiliza- 
tion, defiant of all the terrors, hardships and losses that 
savage men and savage conditions could send against 
them — and never a helping hand did they ask or receive 
from the Federal Government. 

They adopted for themselves a form of government, 
based upon the Virginia model, and supported by the 
suffrage of every member of the community. It was free, 
it was indpendent, it was democratic ; and it was the first 
government of that kind among the white people of 
America. For five or six years this robust and self- 
reliant democracy maintained law, order and independ- 
ence, under written '* association and articles for their 
conduct." Five Commissioners selected by the com- 
munity, "by consent of every individual," administered 
the public affairs, acted as judges in disputed claims of 
debt and property, took probate of wills and acknowledg- 
ment of deeds, issued marriage licenses and hanged 
horse thieves. 

In short, the little settlement beyond the Alleghanies, 
finding itself alone in the wilderness, instinctively did 
what their ancestors had done in the woods of Germany — 
assembled under a tree and agreed upon a government. 

Thomas Carlyle tells us that the King was once the 



*Note. — Capt. William Bean was the first actual settler in what 
is now Tennessee. 



32 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

able man, he toward whom the eyes of his neighbors 
turned in times of doubt and danger, he who was fit to be 
first in doing. By this simple, just and natural rule 
Kings of men were once the ablest of men, and even the 
democrat might not deny that a right thus founded in 
God-given qualities, freely recognized by the tribe, was 
divine. 

In the olden time when our skin-clad ancestors had 
met in primitive council, had passed upon the compara- 
tive merits of rival leaders, had chosen the one able man 
from out of all the others, had seated him upon the broad 
shield and lifted him on high amid the clashings of spears 
upon bucklers, and the boisterous shouts of warriors well 
pleased with their chief, you may be sure that the able 
man, thus freely chosen, was ever the best of the tribe — 
the craftiest in council, the strongest in war. 

And so it happened in the settlement on the Watauga 
when, in May, 1772, the pioneers drew together to form 
a government and select their able men. 

John Carter, Zachariah Isbell, Charles Robertson 
were chosen members of the committee, and this fact 
itself proves their worth. 

A name which stands out in history more clearly is 
that of sturdy, steadfast, level-headed, lion-hearted 
James Robertson, who was the second man of the com- 
mittee. But the first man was John Sevier, one of the 
most gallant and fascinating characters that ever held 
the frontier for Christian civilization. Gay, frank and 
bold, generous as the sunlight, simple as a child, brave as 
Richard the Lion-hearted, a man whom all men could 
honor, all women trust, all children love — John Sevier 
crosses one's line of vision, as we look back upon our his- 
torical landscape, like a French warrior of the very best 
type — truly a knight from Frankland, clad not in bur- 
nished steel, but in buckskin ; carrying not a spear, but a 
rifle ; winning not the garlands of fair ladies at the tour- 
nament, but the heartfelt, tear-dimmed ''God bless you!" 
of pioneer wives and mothers whose homes he had made 
safe, whose children he had rescued from tomahawk and 
scalping-knife. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. S3 

Glorious John Sevier ! The heart swells as one thinks 
of him. No better soldier ever rode to battle. A 
soul of nobler impulse never lifted a hero to lofty 
deeds. Eeady at all times to mount and ride, to march 
and fight, to lead or follow, to command or obey, his far- 
reaching prowess gave safety to Upper Georgia, to the 
Western settlements of the Carolinas and tc^ struggling 
Tennessee. 

And at the darkest hour of the Eevolutionary War, 
when the pall of unbroken defeat and failure was spread 
from the dismal neighborhood of Valley Forge to the 
stricken field of Camden, it was John Sevier— glorious 
John Sevier! — who, more than any other man, led the 
dash of the horsemen of the Southern valleys upon Fer- 
guson and King's Mountain — ^the headlong ride which 
made the turning-point of the Eevolutionary War! 

And when the gallant soldier had come back home 
after the victory, and foimd at his house terrified settlers 
who clamored to know when he could be ready to mount 
again and lead them against the warring Indians, the 
tireless patriot answered, "As soon as Kate can get us 
some dinner." 

In November, 1777, North Carolina absorbed the in- 
dependent Watauga commonwealth into a new county, 
called Washington; and thereafter the government of 
Sevier and his fellow-commissioners was superceded by 
that of the North Carolina authorities. 

In 1784 the State of North Carolina ceded to Con- 
gress her territory west of the Alleghanies, with the 
proviso that the cession be accepted within two years. 

The state closed her land-office in the ceded territory, 
nullified all entries made after the act of cession, stopped 
the delivery of goods which were due to the Cherokee 
Indians, and thus created a state of confusion which was 
aggravated by the outbreaks of the wronged and infuri- 
ated Cherokees. 

Actuated by the belief that their self-preservation de- 
manded it, the settlers came together in convention at 
Jonesboro, August 23, 1784, deliberated upon the situa- 
tion, and issued an address to the people. •• 



34 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

In October, 1784, North Carolina repealed her act 
of cession, and John Sevier advised the people to return 
to their allegiance to the parent state. But hotter 
heads carried the day and the upshot of the matter was 
that a convention was held in Greenville, November 14, 
1785, and it was resolved that Washington county should 
henceforth be the State of Franklin. John Sevier was 
elected Governor, a full set of government functions cre- 
ated and officers chosen to put them into operation. 

Congress had declined to accept North Carolina's act 
of cession, and the State insisted upon her right to rule 
the territory. 

A period of trouble, contending factions and clashing 
jurisdictions ensued. 

The stars in their courses fought against the new Re- 
public. The Federal Government frowned upon it; 
neighboring States had no love for it ; Benjamin Franklin 
— shrewd, sly, worldly-wise Benjamin ! — fought shy of it ; 
internal factions rent it. 

Sevier realized that civil war would be the price 
which he must pay for the separate existence of the State 
of Franklin; and Sevier had no heart for civil war. 
Stopping just short of that, the new State collapsed. 
North Carolina resumed her own, but almost immediately 
passed a second act of cession (February, 1790,) under 
which the territory was deeded to the United States. 

President Washington appointed William Blount 
governor of the territory (August, 1790), and in the fol- 
lowing October the new government was organized. 

The population of the territory in July, 1791, was 
36,043, of whom 3,417 were slaves. 



The young lawyer who had halted at a dead town in 
one of the older North Carolina settlements must have 
found it a dull business. There was no other lawyer in 
Martinsville, and, inasmuch as it takes two to make a 
quarrel, one lawyer would starve in almost any town. 

Clearly, it would never do to stay longer at Martins- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 35 

ville; and, if he considered the Atlantic Seaboard at all, 
he must have decided that no promise of success was held 
out to him in that direction. 

That he should be one of those who made up their 
minds to go West was, under all the circumstances, quite 
natural. He had no family ties to bind him to the older 
settlements. Of his immediate kindred, none but he was 
left. The Crawfords were connections by marriage 
only ; the records fail to show that he was especially fond 
of his Carolina relatives, or they of him. 

He seems to have gone his way and they, theirs, with 
considerable mutual indifference. 

If ever he went back to the old neighborhoods on a 
visit to those with whom he lived when a boy, the fact is 
not stated. 

Unless I am greatly mistaken, a general impression 
prevails that the youth of Andrew Jackson was one of 
hardship, privation and heroic struggle with the draw- 
backs of poverty and neglect. I am sure that such an im- 
pression was on my own mind when I began the studies 
for this biography. 

Such an impression, if it prevails, is erroneous. 

Andrew Jackson's father died under the toil and 
strain of making a home and farm in the wilderness; 
Andrew Jackson's mother died under the toil and strain 
of the Revolutionary War ; but Andrew Jackson himself 
saw no more of the horrors, felt no more of the rigors of 
that time which tried men's souls, than a majority of the 
lads of the day saw and felt. 

He was his mother's idol, favored beyond her other 
boys. She kept him at her apron-strings while she was 
housekeeping for her brother-in-law, Crawford. At her 
knee, she taught him to read. 

For several years she kept him at school. He was so 
far in advance of the people around him that he was 
chosen to act as public reader when the newspapers of 
North and East came drifting into the backwoods. 

The devoted mother, ambitious for her favorite son, 
sent him to the Academy, while his brothers, Hugh and 



36 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Robert, followed the plow. Andrew was to be the 
preacher of the family, therefore Andrew must get book 
learning. The other sons were to be farmers; no High 
School for them. 

The clap of thunder which fell upon the Waxhaw set- 
tlement when Tarleton struck Buford and cut down his 
panic-stricken men, ran Andrew away from the High 
School and his brothers out of the cornfield ; and all three 
were roughly knocked about for a while, as the armies 
tramped and fought in the Carolinas. But little Andrew 
was soon put in a place of safety by his mother, while she 
departed upon that mission of mercy from which she 
never returned. 

In a short while came the legacy from the grand- 
father's estate in Ireland, and young Andrew Jackson 
found himself in possession of a gi'eater capital than the 
vast majority of American boys have started life on — 
somewhere between fifteen hundred and two thousand 
dollars. 

Biographers agree in stating that the young man 
squandered his inheritance in riotous living. This is 
probably true. But it is a significant fact that henceforth 
in Jackson's career he never seems to have suffered for 
the lack of money. After the payment to him of the 
legacy, in the eighteenth year of his age, we shall never 
see him again when he does not present the appearance 
of a well-to-do citizen. According to all accounts, he is 
found well-dressed, well-lodged, well-mounted — gay in 
spirits and prosperous in outward seeming. He boards 
at the best tavern in Salisbury while he gives two years 
to the study of law. Patrick Henry was able to give but 
six weeks, and Alexander H. Stephens, three months, to 
the same study; they were poor young men, and they 
were in a hurry to get to work. Andrew Jackson "car- 
ried himself like a rich man's son," boarded at the 
^' Rowan House," and leisurely "read law" for two 
years, apparently not being in a hurry to get to work! 
When admitted to the bar he is garbed in broadcloth and 
ruffled shirt; he owns a splendid saddle-horse, keeps a 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 37 

pack of hounds, has extra fine pistols and a new rifle, 
made to order "by Yeomans, of Charlotte;" is able to 
put up stakes at horse-races, chicken-fights, dice-throw- 
ing and card-playing; and is a leader among the respect- 
able young people in such society functions as are com-* 
mon to Salisbury and Charlotte! 

When the young lawyer comes to the conclusion that 
he can better his fortunes by following the tide of emi- 
gration westward he does not tie his belongings into a 
bundle and tote the bundle at the end of a stick — as so 
many an emigrant has done. 

No! Andrew Jackson rides over the mountains upon 
a spirited stallioli, leading a first-rate pack-horse which 
is loaded with a goodly supply of bachelor furnishings, 
and followed by his string of hounds. In his pocket is 
one hundred and eighty dollars in hard cash, and one of 
the first things that he does after his coming into Ten- 
nessee is to' buy a negro woman "named Nancy, about 
eighteen or twenty years of age." (November, 1788.) 

Verily, we must abandon the belief that Andrew 
Jackson belongs to the class of American youths who 
rode to fame and fortune by their own efforts, unaided 
by the help of family and friends. 

Never did he taste the bitter cup of physical want, of 
hunger and cold, of helpless, spirit-breaking poverty. 
Never was he without home and loyal friends and a suf- 
ficiency of the comforts of life. Never was it his lot to 
suffer that humiliation, that mortification, that inward- 
bleeding wound which the proud nature writhes under, 
when there is no money in the pocket, no change of cloth- 
ing for the body, no welcoming light in any window in all 
the world, as the harassed day draws to' its end and the 
wretched night comes on. 

Poverty! Why, Andrew Jackson never in his whole 
life had a genuine taste of what the cruel world really 
means. 

Few men have been more greatly indebted to the in- 
telligent affection of a self-sacrificing mother. Few sons 
of poor parents have had such advantages as were his 



38 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

lot ; and few lads of poor parents ever did such a scanty 
amount of manual labor. Compared to the rugged, self- 
taught youth of Benjamin Franklin, Eoger Sherman, 
Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Sam Houston, Fran- 
cis Marion and Nathaniel Greene, the boyhood of An- 
drew Jackson almost assumes the appearance of having 
been cast upon ** flowery beds of ease." 

Unless the harness-making uncle managed to get some 
hard work out of him, I cannot find that Andrew Jackson 
was ever made to do any real, steady manual labor at 
all. You can find Franklin setting type, Sherman mak- 
ing shoes, Greene hammering hot iron on the anvil, Lin- 
coln splitting rails, Andy Johnson making a suit of 
clothes, Davy Crockett clearing a new ground and raising 
a crop, James Garfield trudging the towpath and U. S. 
Grant looking after the tanyard and hauling wood into St. 
Louis; but if Andrew Jackson ever did do a hard day's 
work, at manual labor, for anybody, at any time, you can 
find something in the record that escaped my attention. 

The boy was full of life, fun and frolic; was restless 
and adventurous; could not be put down or reined in; 
was off on the creek fishing, or in the woods hunting ; was 
gone to the races where the wild excitement was irre- 
sistibly fascinating to his soul, or was heading a band of 
noisy youngsters who were out for a good time, and who 
were pretty sure to make the night more or less hideous 
to the Elders in Israel. Such was young Andrew 
Jackson. 

Another most important fact must be borne in mind 
in considering the extent to which he was indebted for 
early advantages. When he rode over the mountains 
astride his mettlesome race-horse, he carried in his pocket 
a guaranty of power and profit. He had been appointed 
** state's attorney" to a court whose jurisdiction stretched 
far and wide over the inhabitants of those remote 
regions. 

How did Andrew Jackson happen to draw that high 
prize in the lottery of youth — a solicitorship to a court of 
general jurisdiction? Curiously, the biograp!hers are 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 39 

silent. And yet the wonderful career of their hero pivots 
upon that appointment. Without it, he could never have 
gained the foothold which enabled him to snatch the 
major-generalship of militia from the most popular man 
in Tennessee, John Sevier; and without that office, he 
would never have gone to New Orleans as commander-in- 
chief. 

Whose influence secured for the briefless barrister of 
North Carolina the appointment of "state's attorney?" 

Beyond a doubt, young Jackson owed this first step 
in his career to the generous and influential attorneys 
under whom he had read law. Judge Spruce McCay and 
Col. Montfort Stokes were men of great local weight. 
They naturally felt an interest in the youngsters whom 
they had trained for the bar. When the new circuit was 
created for the country beyond the mountains, and a su- 
perior court set up therein, the judgeship was secured 
for John McNairy, who was studying under McCay at 
the time that Andrew Jackson entered his office: the 
clerkship was given to Thomas Searcy, a fellow-student 
in Stokes's office, and the solicitorship came to Andrew 
Jackson. 

In fact, a pamphlet published by Montfort Stokes, 
son of Col. John Stokes, in 1824, makes this statement: 

"He (Jackson) became convinced after a year's resi- 
dence in Guilford County, of the advisability of seeking 
a newer field, and sought the aid of his friends in secur- 
ing the appointment as public solicitor for the Western 
Districts, to give him a start in the new country with 
whose fortunes he had decided to cast his own." 

This impersonal reference doubtless covers the facts 
which his modesty would not permit Mr. Stokes to state 
more plainly, to wit : that he and his father had been in- 
strumental in obtaining for Andrew Jackson the official 
position which gave him "a start in the new country." 

Success in life often hangs upon an "If;" and failure 
is the do'om of the man who goes wrong at the forks of 
the road. If Napoleon had not stopped his victorious 
armies in 1813 and consented to that fatal truce, if he had 



40 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

led the turning movement at Bautzen instead of sending 
Ney to do it, there might have been no Waterloo. If 
Beauregard and Johnston had advanced upon Washing- 
ton, after the first battle of Manassas, there might have 
been no Appomattox. If the French king, in his flight to 
Varennes, had not stopped on the wrong side of the town, 
he would not have lost his own head and that of his queen 
to the Kevolution, and Euroj)e might not have been able 
to put armies in the field to crush democracy in France. 
If a certain American general had sent a certain letter 
by special courier, instead of by mail, there might have 
been no War of 1812, no Battle of New Orleans, no 
clash between a President Jackson and a Secretary Cal- 
houn, and none of those dire results to the country which 
flowed from that collision. 

And if Andrew Jackson, in starting out in life, had 
gone East instead of West, his own history and that of 
the United States would have been materially different. 

By temperament and equipment he was unfitted for a 
settled, quiet, humdrum community. High-strung and 
domineering, he was also irregular in his habits, defec- 
tive in education, and lacking in mental discipline. He 
had chosen the law as his profession, yet it is certain that 
he had never buckled down to a thorough study of it, and 
that he knew very little about it. 

He was familiar with the Book of Forms and with 
the Eules of Practice. He could doubtless draw a correct 
indictment according to the blank form, and could carry 
a suit upon a note to judgment, or steer a disputed land- 
title by the John Doe-Richard Roe route laid down on the 
chart. On the frontier, therefore, he could hope to be 
able to practice law. 

To the illiterate hunters and trappers of the West ; to 
jurors who came to court with their guns and dogs, and 
who went into the box clad in hunting-shirts, with hunt- 
ing-knives in their belts ; to justices and judges who paid 
less attention to statute, precedent and decisions than to 
sympathy, passion, prejudice and popular favor; to the 
brother lawvers who were even more deficient in legal 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 41 

lore than himself, young Andrew Jackson might very 
well hope to appear to advantage. 
f Much of human grandeur being relative, environment 
/ has a great deal to do with it. 

( To us boys of the old field school the schoolmaster 

seemed a prodigy of learning. Every deserted village, 
left behind in the evolution of the human race, has prob- 
ably afforded the same half- sad, half comic spectacle of 
the Wise Man who was great, not so much by reason of 
his own attainments as by his superiority to those who 
knew less. 

Whether Caesar did, or did not, say that he would 
rather be the first man in the Alpine town than second 
man in Eome, the fact remains that the first man of the 
town occupied, in many respects, the more enviable posi- 
tion of the two. 

In sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain, the 
schoolmaster was a proud and happy man, for everybody 
looked up to him, everybody honored him, nobody ma- 
liciously envied him, and not a hand would have been 
lifted to do him harm. 

And during the young manhood of Andrew Jackson, 
when he rode the circuit in Tennessee, knowing more law 
than most of his brethren at the bar, afraid of nothing 
on earth, ready to challenge to a duel some trained law- 
yer from the older settlements when that lawyer tres- 
passed upon his own preserves and made fun of his 
ignorance — as Waightstill Avery did — thus holding his 
ground against all comers, partly by brute force and 
partly by mental superiority, he was probably nearer to 
happiness than he ever was afterward. 

From court to court he rode his race-horse, pistols in 
holsters, carrying his gun and his pack of hounds, ready 
for the court-house, ready for the deer chase, ready for 
the shooting-match, ready for the horse-race, ready for 
the house-raising and log-rolling, ready to 2q out himself 
and drag into" the court-house the desperi- ^ whom the 
sheriff feared to arrest. e 

Rough-and-tumble times these were iw backwoods 

4aj 



42 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Tennessee, with rude and lawless elements boiling and 
bubbling in that inevitable period of unrest and struggle 
which prevails in border settlements before the com- 
munity takes form, and everybody smugly congratulates 
everybody else on the "reign of law and order.'* 

In just such a state of society young Jackson was pe- 
culiarly fitted to lead, dominate and prosper. 

Had he gone eastward instead of westward, had he 
cast in his lot with the lawyers that were striving for 
advancement in the cities of the original thirteen sea- 
board states, nothing is more certain than that the world 
would never have heard of him. 

His lack of knowledge of the law would have made 
him easy prey to those who were masters of this profes- 
sion ; his fiery temper would have kept him constantly in 
battle array, and in fighting those lawyers who got the 
better of him in the citation of legal authorities he would, 
in the nature of things, have met the wrong man, sooner 
or later. 

Abraham Lincoln was a great advocate before the 
courts of Western Illinois, where wit and humor, anec- 
dote and invective, the play of popular passion and 
prejudice and a keen knowledge of human nature swayed 
the men in the jury-box; before such a tribunal Edwin 
L. Stanton would have been a pigmy in the hands of 
Lincoln, the giant ; but when Stanton saw that his clients 
in a case before the Supreme Court of the United States 
had sent Lincoln 1 o Washington as associate counsel, he 
glared for a moment at the Western attorney, and then 
snorted: ''If that giraffe appears in the case, I'll throw 
up my brief. ' ' 

In Great Britain, Gen. Oglethorpe was nothing more 
than a commonplace, most worthy gentleman, differing 
but slightly from thousands of other commonplace, most 
worthy gentlemen; in the colony of Georgia he was a 
magnificent combination of philanthropist, diplomatist, 
military chieftain, law-giver and empire builder ; and few 
men that evi;r lived deserve more highly of the human 
race than James Oglethorpe. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 43 

If Warren Hastings, and the English boy who is 
known to history as Lord Olive, had stayed in Great 
Britain they would never have achieved greatness — 
never would have become the illustrious criminals, the 
ruthless conquerors who won India for the English 
Crown. In Hindustan their genius expanded to the op- 
portunity, and they were great; in England they were 
nothing more than two respectables amid ten thousand 
other respectables. 

To land upon one's feet, on the right side of the If — 
that's the secret of success, and Jackson was one of the 
men who took the right road at the right time. 



44 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER IV. 

In the biography of Jackson recently published by 
Col. A. S. Colyar, there appears a letter, written by Judge 
John McNairy, in which this statement is made: "We 
(Andrew Jackson and McNairy himself) moved together 
from North Carolina to this state (Tennessee) and ar- 
rived at Nashville in October, 1788." 

Colonel Colyar regards this letter as sufficiently con- 
vincing to overthrow all the evidence which supports the 
conclusion that Andrew Jackson lived for a year or more 
at Jonesboro befote going to Nashville. 

In Parton's voluminous "Life of Jackson," a book 
which Colonel Colyar says "ought not to have been writ- 
ten," the industrious authoY produces what purports to 
be a copy of an original advertisement in the State Ga- 
zette, of North Carolina, of November 28, 1788, and 
which reads as follows : 

"Notice is hereby given that the new road from 
Campbell's Station to Nashville was opened on the 25th 
of September, and the guard attended at that time to 
escort such persons as were ready to proceed to Nash- 
ville; that about sixty families went on, amongst whom 
were the widow and family of the late General Davidson 
and John McNairy, judge of the Superior Court; and 
that on the 1st day of October next the guard will attend 
at the same place for the same purpose." 

This advertisement convinced Parton that Andrew 
Jackson stopped no longer than "several weeks" in 
Jonesboro, "waiting for the assembling of a sufficient 
number of emigrants, and for the arrival of a guard from 
Nashville to escort them." The evidence at least cor- 
roborates Judge McNairy 's statement as to the date of 
his arrival in Nashville. It by no means excludes the 
possibility that Jackson himself lived in Jonesboro a 
year or more previous to October, 1788. 

So many of the episodes in the long career of Andrew 
Jackson depend upon mere hearsay, the recollections of 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 45 

old peo'ple, neigrborhood traditions and other testimony 
of that most untrustworthy character, that we find our- 
selves groping amid uncertainties at every turn. 

Assured of the fact that Jackson moved from Mor- 
ganton directly to Nashville, Mr. Parton, a painstaking 
biographer, did not visit East Tennessee while making 
the local researches upoli which he based his elaborate 
work. 

If, as Mr. Parton states, Andrew Jackson and John 
McNairy stopped m Jonesboro for no other purpose 
than to await the assembling of emigrants and the com- 
ing of the guard froni Nashville, why did they go into 
court at Jonesboro during the May term, 1788, produce 
their licenses, and take the oaths necessary to qualify' 
them to practice law in that court? 

The technical name of the tribunal referred to was 
the ''Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions." 

Furthermore, the minutes of the "Superior Court of 
Law and Equity," kept at Jonesboro, disclose the fact 
that at the August term, 1788, John McNairy produced 
his license and took the necessary oath to qualify him to 
practice "in the several courts of this state." 

These old court-house records, copied into Judge Al- 
lison's ''Dropped Stitches in Tennessee History," upset 
Parton 's assertion that Jackson and McNairy "rendez- 
voused at Morganton in the spring or summer of 1788," 
and then went on to Nashville, after a halt of but a few 
weeks at Jonesboto. 

In the little log-cabin, twenty-four feet square, which 
served as a court-house at Jonesboro, Andrew Jackson 
presented his license and was duly enrolled upon the 
minutes as an attorney entitled to practice "in this 
County Court," on the 12th day of May, 1788. 

It was at the November term, 1788, of "this County 
Court," at Jonesboro, that Jackson produced a "Bill of 
Sale from Micajah Crews to Andrew Jackson, Esquire, 
for a negro woman named Nancy, about eighteen or 
twenty years of age," and proved the same by the oath 
of David Allison, a subscribing witness — whereupon the 
paper was "ordered to be recorded." 



46 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

"Ordered to be Eecorded" was indicated upon legal 
documents in those days by the clerk's memorandum 
"0. E."; and with that proneness to error which is one 
of the most interesting and attractive features in human 
nature, the letters of the clerk's memorandum were taken 
to be ''0. K.," and the stubborn pertinacity and success 
with which the senseless "0. K." has held its ground 
against the lucid and righteous "0. R.", demonstrates 
how ridiculous a figure the truth can sometimes cut in 
contest with a falsehood which got the running start. 

What use Andrew Jackson had for the young negro 
woman, named Nancy, is not apparent. Being a boarder 
at the house of Christopher Taylor, he did not need her 
as a house- servant ; he was not running a farm anywhere, 
and, consequently, he did not need her as a field-hand. 
Reasoning by the process of exclusion, we land firmly 
upon the conviction that Nancy was bought on specula- 
tion. In political campaigns it was natural that, in the 
North, the partisans of Old Hickory should vehemently 
deny that he had ever been a negro trader; but in the 
days of Andrew Jackson the business men of the South 
thought no more of buying and selling negroes than they 
did of buying and selling any other merchantable com- 
modity. The business instinct was strong in Andrew 
Jackson, as it was in George Washington, and Nancy was 
the first of the many negroes that he bought to re- sell at 
a profit. 

In that interesting little volume, "Dropped Stitches 
in Tennessee History," the author, Judge John Allison, 
presents a picture of the house in which Jackson boarded 
while he lived at Jonesboro. The photograph from which 
the illustration was made was taken in 1897, and the 
house, which was built of hewn logs, presents the sturdy 
appearance of a building which might survive many other 
years. There are portholes at convenient distances for 
the riflemen who might be compelled to defend the home 
from Indian attack, and these portholes grimly remind 
one of the stern, bloody days in which the encroaching 
settler made his clearing and built his house. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 47 

"When Andrew Jackson came to Jonesboro (then spelt 
Jonesborongh) to live it was a thriving town, equal, at 
least, to Nashville. It was surrounded and supported by 
one of the finest farming sections of the South. Public 
officials, merchants and others, traveling from the lower 
Southern States to Washington and points farther east 
made Jonesboro a stopping-place on the route. Droves 
of horses, mules and cattle from the regions round about 
were collected at Jonesboro, and from there driven to 
Georgia and the Carolinas for sale. From Baltimore and 
Philadelphia came all sorts of merchandise by wagon, 
and these goods were distributed by the merchants of 
Jonesboro to the smaller dealers in Tennessee and West- 
ern North Carolina. 

Yes, indeed, Jonesborc^ was quite a large and flourish- 
ing town in those days, but it is one of those which has 
had to witness the growth of younger, stronger rivals as 
the invincible railroad came along and gave its advan- 
tages to Johnson City and Bristol. The population of 
Jonesboro is not greater now than it was in the days of 
Andrew Jackson. 

"In going from Jonesboro to the courts in Greene, 
Hawkins and Sullivan counties, Jackson always took 
with him his shot-gun, hostlers and saddle-bags, and very 
often his hounds, so that he was always ready to join in 
a deer-chase or a fox-hunt. He was an unerring marks- 
man, and was always the centre of attraction at the shoot- 
ing matches at which the prizes were quarters of beef, 
turkeys and deer." So says Judge Allison in ''Dropped 
Stitches." 

We can well believe it. Jackson loved life, action, 
contact and contest with his fellow-man. Neither at that 
time, nor at any other time, did he have any fondness for 
books. While at Jonesboro he burned no midnight oil 
poring over Coke or Blackstone or Chitty — nor did he 
do so anywhere else. Just enough law to get his case to 
the jury was about as much as he ever knew; and he 
relied upon his energy in hunting up evidence, and his 
strong common sense in talking to the jury, to carry him 
through. 



48 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

To speak of Andrew Jackson as having lived a year 
or more at Jonesboro without having had a fight with 
somebody would bring the story under suspicion ; there- 
fore we must chronicle the fact that he did have ' ' a per- 
sonal difficulty" while at Jonesboro. 

One of the residents of Jonesboro was Samuel Jack- 
son, a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, who had come from 
Philadelphia and established himself in a successful busi- 
ness. A most worthy gentleman he was, by all accounts ; 
and his descendants, to this day, are worthy people in 
East Tennessee. 

It seems that Andrew Jackson, being a fighting man, 
carried a sword-cane — a habit common to the fighting 
men of that period. When the writer of this sketch was 
a small boy he remembers having seen one of these 
formidable weapons. To outward appearance the sword- 
cane differed from no other ''walking stick." It looked 
as innocent as the handle of a wagon whip. But the cane 
was, in reality, a concealed weapon, for it was nothing 
more than the wooden scabbard of a long, keen blade of 
steel which was ready to flash into the light and drink 
blood the moment the handle of the cane was pulled. In 
other words, the sword-cane was made upon the prin- 
ciple of the sword, with the difference that all men knew 
a sword to be a sword, while no one could tell a sword- 
cane from any other kind of "walking stick." 

Andrew Jackson had a quarrel with Samuel Jackson, 
and before the matter ended Andrew had pierced the 
thigh of Samuel with the spear of his sword-cane. It 
does not appear that Samuel Jackson was armed, or that 
Andrew Jackson was justifiable in the use of the weapon. 
A daughter of Samuel Jackson, relating the circum- 
stances to Col. John Brownlow, some forty years ago, 
spoke with deep feeling of the matter, denouncing the 
conduct of Andrew Jackson. Making allowances for the 
natural bias of a daughter, the impression remains that 
the assault was due to the violent temper of Andrew, 
rather than to any adequate provocation. 

The famous Parson Brownlow lives in Southern his- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 49 

tory as one of its most striking figures. From his son, 
John B. Brownlow, I have received many valuable sug- 
gestions in the studies for this sketch of Andrew Jack- 
son; and the following letter from him is inserted here 
because of its bearing upon this part of Jackson's 
career : 

Knoxville, Tenn., August 16, 1906. 

There is no doubt whatever that Jackson resided at Jonesboro 
at least one year, and probably longer. While writing his book, 
Parton spent several weeks at Nashville, but he never came to East 
Tennessee, and never communicated by letter or otherwise with 
any citizen of this section of the state about Jonesboro, so far as I 
have ever heard. 

Immediately after receiving your letter this morning, I' called 
to see Judge O. P. Temple, who had been a citizen of Knoxville 
since 1848. He was born in Greene County, the county adjoining 
Washington, of which Jonesboro is the capital town. Before re- 
moving here in 184 8 he practiced law at Jonesboro, residing at 
Greenville, twenty-five miles distant. In 1847 Judge Temple was 
the Whig candidate for Congress against Andrew Johnson, Johnson 
defeating him by three hundred votes. In 1849 he held a diplo- 
matic position under President Taylor's administration. For six- 
teen years he was Judge of the Court here. His memory and mental 
faculties seem unimpaired, and until he retired from the bar, he 
was one of the most successful lawyers we have had in East Ten- 
nessee. He is now eighty-seven. I asked him bluntly: "Did An- 
drew Jackson ever make Jonesboro his home?" He replied: 
"Certainly; he opened a law office there and lived there for at 
last a year, and I think two years; and when I was a young man 
visiting Jonesboro I heard the name of the widow with whom he 
boarded while there, but I have forgotten it. I also remember to 
have heard of his horse-racing there." 

From Judge Temple's home I called at my mother's. I' asked 
her the very same question. She replied: "Didn't you know that 
General Jackson lived at Jonesboro before going to Nashville?" I 
told her that had always been my understanding, but I wanted her 
recollection on the subject. She added that when a young woman 
she was in Jonesboro, and that the house he, Jackson, lived in, 
where he boarded, was pointed out to her. From 1839 to 1849 my 
father resided in Jonesboro, editing a Whig newspaper. During 
this period my mother heard several of the old people of the town 
speak of Jackson, who knew him personally while he practiced law 
there. My mother is eighty-seven. 

In the "History of the Bench and Bar of Tennessee" it is stated 
that Jackson never wrote an opinion as Judge. The author of that 
work, Hon. Joshua W. Caldwell, resided in this city. He recently 
told me that since his book was published he had heard that in the 
court-house at Elizabeth, Carter County, East Tennessee, there was 
among the records a Judicial opinion of Jackson's in his own writ- 
ing. It is worth investigating this matter, as, if true, it is new 
matter in that no Judicial opinion of Andrew Jackson has ever 
been published in book or newspaper. Carter is a mountain county, 
bordering on Washington. I may go there before the November 
election, and if so I will investigate. 



50 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The county (Washington) it is in is the first county in the 
United States, not excepting Washington County, Virginia, which 
was named in honor of the immortal George. It was named for 
him while he was a Colonel of Virginia militia wearing the British 
colors, and while Tennessee was a part of North Carolina. Until 
within recent years Jonesboro was spelled Jonesborough. 

That not one of the numerous biographers of Jackson has ever 
visited East Tennessee is one reason why you should do so. There 
are many spots of interest here in connection with his career which 
would interest you. On the street where I am writing this letter 
Jackson, while a Judge of our highest court, made a personal 
assault on John Sevier, the Governor, because of slighting remarks 
the latter was alleged to have made, that he (Jackson) "had stolen 
another man's wife." 

When we bear in mind that Andrew Jackson was ad- 
mitted to practice law in the ''Connty Court" at Jones- 
boro in May, 1788, was still there in August, 1788, and 
was putting upon the records of that court his Bill of 
Sale to Nancy in November of the same year, it will be 
difficult to escape the conviction that the young lawyer 
was living there. 

Nashville was one hundred and eighty-three miles 
farther on in the wilderness, and no one could travel the 
road from the one place to the other without a guard to 
protect him from the Indians; consequently we cannot 
explain away the facts by supposing that Jackson was 
living in Nashville and attending to law business in 
Jonesboro. The nature of the country, the distance be- 
tween the two places, and the perilous condition of the 
roads, made this a physical impossibility in the year 1788. 

Later, conditions changed for the better, but in 1788, 
when emigrants to the number of "sixty families" dared 
not move from Jonesboro to Nashville without military 
escort, no lawyer could have lived in the one town and 
practiced in the other. 

To be convinced that Andrew Jackson could not have 
lived in Nashville in 1788, while practicing law in Jones- 
boro, we have only to study the narrative of Parton him- 
self. We learn from him, and from others, that the road 
was not to be traveled without military escort. We learn 
that, even in the year 1789, Judge John McNairy and his 
party were attacked by Indians while the Judge was on 
his way to hold the Superior Court at Jonesboro. Three 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 51 

men of McNairy's party were killed, and the rest dis- 
persed. Their horses, camp equipage and clothing were 
left behind, while they saved their lives by swimming to 
the other side of the river upon which they had been 
encamped. 

Mr. James Parton was a most industrious biog- 
rapher, a most entertaining writer, and a most amusingly 
credulous man. If a story about one of his heroes tickled 
his fancy, he couldn't help believing it to save his life. 
Therefore he straight way put it into his book. 

That Andrew Jackson could travel one hundred and 
eighty-three miles in the wilderness without having "ad- 
ventures" appeared unnatural to biographical and his- 
torical writers of the Peter Parley school, and therefore 
we learn from Parton 's "Life of Andrew Jackson" that 
the guard which had been sent from Nashville to watch 
over the lives of the emigrants was totally unfit for the 
business, and that had not Andrew Jackson and his cob 
pipe been along, the Indians would have surprised and 
butchered the whites. 

Remember that we have been told by Parton that 
Jackson and McNairy waited several weeks at Jonesboro 
for the assembling emigrants and for the guard from 
Nashville. Remember that the emigrants did assemble 
in due course and that the guard from Nashville did ar- 
rive. Remember that the party numbered about one hun- 
dred, and that the military escort must have consisted of 
backwoodsmen familiar with Indian ways, Indian fight- 
ing and all necessary woodcraft. Remember that this 
guard from Nashville came from the dark and bloody 
ground of constant and deadly antagonism between the 
white intruders and the Red Men who believed that the 
Great Spirit had given them the land. Remember that it 
was the special duty of this Indian-fighting escort to pro- 
tect the men, women and children of the emigrant train 
from surprise, ambuscade and attack. Remember that 
at night, in the midst of the unbroken forest, the danger 
would be greatest and the guard most vigilant. Remem- 
ber all these things and then smile as you read the story. 



52 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

which Parton repeats, of the childlike manner in which 
the trained and trusted backwoodsmen from Nashville 
had all become negligent, and how the young lawyer, An- 
drew Jackson, who happened to be ' ' sitting with his back 
against a tree smoking a corncob pipe, an hour after his 
companions had gone to sleep," called the attention of 
the young clerk of the court, Thomas Searcy, to the sus- 
picious hoots of the owls — which hoots the young lawyer 
from old North Carolina knew must be made by Indians 
and not by owls! The trained and trusted backwoods 
Indian fighters had not suspected that these owls were 
other than owls ! How mean and cheap those trained and 
trusted Indian fighters from Nashville must have felt as 
the young lawyer from old North Carolina roused them 
to a sense of the perils by which they were encompassed ! 
According to this marvelous yarn, which Parton swal- 
lows without a wink of the eye, the Andrew Jackson band 
rose up and marched away from there, unmolested, 
whereas a party of hunters who came up to the same 
camp, during the same night, and laid them down to sleep 
in the same place, were remorselessly butchered by the 
same Indians who had been hooting those owl-hoots at 
the Jackson band! What an extensively credulous Par- 
ton! In such haste was he to make a wonderful figure 
otit of the raw young lawyer from Salisbury, N. C, that 
the best borderers whom Tennessee could select were 
made to neglect the simplest duties, and get caught nap- 
ping in the stupidest fashion, at the very time when such 
a thing was the least likely to have happened. 

That there may have been a narrow escape for the 
emigrants from some night-attack of Indians is probable 
enough; but it is simply incredible that a guard, picked 
by pioneers of the times of Eobertson and Donelson and 
Sevier, for the very purpose of watching over the safety 
of the inexperienced and helpless emigrants, should have 
gone to sleep in the depths of the wilderness with Eed 
Men all about them, or should have been so unskilled as 
not to detect so common an Indian signal as the imitation 
of the owl-hoot. The unsuspicious, indiscriminate and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 53 

comprehensively credulous Parton is so sure of his 
ground that he actually gives his readers the exact time 
which elapsed between the flight of the Jackson band and 
the coming of the hunters who were butchered. 

It was one hour. 

Thus we have one band of white borderers who wait 
to be led out of the Indian ambuscade by a young attor- 
ney, and a second band of white borderers who come upon 
th deserted camp-fires, one hour later, and who see no 
''signs" which are sufficient to arouse suspicion and 
excite watchfulness. The second band of white borderers 
— men who live amid continual dangers, who carry their 
lives in their hands, and to whom the reading of the 
"signs" in the woods is the necessary condition of life 
in the savage wilds — lie down around the abandoned 
camp-fires of Jackson's band, and without so much as 
posting a picket, fall into the arms of sleep and of death. 

The credulous Parton! Of all things which would 
have put the second band of white borderers upon in- 
stant notice that danger lurked on the trail, it was the 
abandoned camp which must have shown, even to the un- 
trained eye of an emigrant, that it had been suddenly and 
recently deserted by those who had intended to remain 
there for the night. 



54 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER V 

We are told that when the Jew, menaced by foes, 
came to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, he worked with a 
trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. 

Our American State and its Institutions were built in 
the same way. No early settler went to any work with- 
out his gun. The rifle leaned against the tree while the 
pioneer was cutting it down; it was strapped to his 
shoulders as he plowed, it rested against the pulpit when 
he prayed. The Indian, the war-whoop, the scalping 
knife, the hidden red man lurking in the bush, the swift 
arrow and its death-song, the midnight assault and the 
blazing home — these were the terrors which best the 
American Pioneer ; and they made of him one of the most 
alert, self-reliant, resourceful, indomitable, unconquer- 
able and ruthless characters that ever laid the broad 
foundation of a masterful State. 

At the time when Andrew Jackson came from Jones- 
boro to Nashville, everything there in the way of society 
and government was primitive and unsettled. A nucleus 
had been formed, but the extent to which its power would 
wax in importance depended upon whether the whites 
could break the Indians and thus be left free to make use 
of natural advantages such as Nature gave to few spots 
on this globe. 

Jackson had an eye for actual conditions, and he could 
not have doubted for a moment that Nashville had within 
her, and surrounding her, everything necessary to the 
greatest material progress. One has but to see that 
region to understand the pathetic earnestness and heroic 
valor with which the Indian fought to hold it, as well as 
the ferocious determination with which the White Man 
fought to win it. 

The widow Donelson was living in Nashville, 1790, 
and she appears to have been in better worldly circum- 
stances than any other inhabitant of the place. Her hus- 
band had been one of the hardiest, most enterprising and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 55 

successful of the pioneer settlers. A trip that he made, 
under almost impossible conditions, from the settlements 
on the Holston river, down that stream to the Tennessee, 
down the Tennessee to the Ohio, up the Ohio to the Cum- 
berland, and up the Cumberland to the new settlement 
which he and Capt. Eobertson were planting — is one of 
the most remarkable on record. 

But Donelson had been murdered, in the woods near 
his home, and his widow, left without her natural protec- 
tor, was glad to take into her home newcomers to Nash- 
ville who were in need of a place to board. 

In this way, Andrew Jackson entered the family of 
Mrs. Donelson, taking his meals at her table, while using 
a near-by cabin as a sleeping room. This was in 1789 or 
1790, according to Judge John Overton. 

The widow Donelson had a daughter — a pretty daugh- 
ter, a buxom lass, who in those days, dearly loved fun and 
frolic, a dance and a horse-back ride. 

Rachel was her name — and young Andrew Jackson 
soon made up his mind that she was just the girl he- 
wanted — and he hadn't the slightest idea of serving any 
Laban seven years for her, either. 

Headstrong Andrew, hot-blooded Andrew, iron-willed 
Andrew — meant to have this lovely, fascinating back- 
woods Rachel, and it was his way not to lose time when 
his mind was made up. 

But Rachel already had a husband ! 

So much the worse for the husband. 

Singing of another man of that name, some seventy 
years later, the poet said: 

''The foe had better ne'er been born 
Than get in Stonewall's way." 

This was true of Andrew also. Nobody that ever got 
in his way seemed to prosper. He had a habit of going 
over other men that stopped at nothing, — and which 
finally landed him on top of the prostrate, puzzled and 
helpless Trio, Webster, Clay and Calhoun. 



56 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Therefore, when you learn that Andrew Jackson fell 
madly in love with Rachel and that Rachel fell madly in 
love with Andrew — you feel that Rachel's husband Had 
better be going. 

If he doesn't go of his own accord, — something un- 
pleasant will happen to him. 

The name of the husband in question was Lewis Rob- 
ards. He is alluded to as "Captain," but this may have 
been a courtesy title. He came of one of the respectable 
families of Kentucky, and there is absolutely no proof 
against him of any discreditable act. His only fault, so 
far as the record shows with clearness, is that the Imp of 
the Perverse gave him for wife a woman that Andrew 
Jackson would have taken for himself if it had been 
necessary for him to fight every man in the settlement. 

During Presidential Campaigns, the partisans of 
Jackson had a strenuous time of it defending their hero 
from sundry accusations based upon various doubtful 
episodes in his stormy career; and none bothered them 
much more than this about "Stealing another man's 
wife." As a natural result, the campaign liar had to 
^ork manfully for Jackson. 

A part of the job of clearing Jackson was to defame 
the unfortunate Lewis Robards. The partisans of Jack- 
son represented him as meanly jealous and a most unat- 
tractive character. 

The time has passed for fulsome flatterers of Jackson 
to besmirch the name and memory of Capt. Lewis Rob- 
ards. It is but right that he should be treated justly. 

After his trouble with Jackson was all over, Capt. 
Robards married again, had a happy home of his own, 
was blessed with a family of children, and his descena- 
ants are to be found to-day in Kentucky, where their 
standing is that of respectable, middle-class people. 

In Parton's "Life of Jackson" appears Judge Over- 
ton's statement of the manner in which Andrew came to 
marry Rachel. 

The Judge was the room-mate of Jackson while the 
two young lawyers boarded with the widow Donelson. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 57 

Eoom-mates, they became friends, and friends they re- 
mained as long as they lived. Loyal to his friend Jack- 
son, Judge Overton shaped-up a written account of how 
his friend Andrew drove off Lewis Robards and married 
Lewis ' wife, that is one of the most interesting specimens 
of unconscious humor that it was ever my good fortune 
to read. 

Parton was no lawyer, and was, besides, a most credu- 
lous biographer : had he been a lawyer accustomed to the 
sifting of testimony, he would have smiled as he picked 
to pieces that ingenious narrative in which Judge Over- 
ton makes it clear that Lewis Robards compelled Andrew 
Jackson to take Rachel, Lewis' wife, and marry her him- 
self. As a bit of special pleading, no lawyer could fail to 
enjoy the reading of the Overton paper which Parton 
swallowed without a wink. Condensed,the real facts 
would seem to be: 

That Captain Lewis Robards had married Rachel 
Donelson while her mother was temporarily staying at 
the Robards home in Kentucky. Here she appears to 
have carried on some sort of a flirtation, in her gay, 
innocent way, with a man of the name of Short. 

Captain Robards fretted over the flirtation and took 
the high-spirited Rachel to task about it. The upshot of 
the matter was that Mrs. Donelson was written to and 
asked to take her daughter to her new home in Nashville. 
This was done. Captain Robards, it appears, wrote the 
letter, and Rachel's brother, Sam Donelson, went after 
her and took her to Tennessee. 

It would seem that it was at this particular juncture 
that Andrew Jackson became an inmate of the Donelson 
home. Capt. Robards remained in Kentucky. 

Consequently, Andrew and Rachael were thrown 
together, day after day, as members of the same house- 
hold. 

It is quite clear from all the accounts we have of the 
matter, that Rachel Donelson did not love Lewis Robards. 

It is reasonably clear that with her, as with Andrew 
Jackson, it was a case of "love at first sight." 

5 a j 



58 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Therefore, when Capt. Eobards at length came from 
his home in Kentucky to make another attempt to live 
with his wife, he was what the French would call de trop 
— he was one too many. 

Hs presence was welcome to neither Andrew nor 
Eachel. 

Now Judge Overton's statement gives a ludicrous 
account of the patience of Andrew Jackson under the 
provocations of Lewis Eobards; of Lewis' violent dem- 
onstrations against Andrew and the meek forbearance 
and Christian "love thine enemy" attitude of Andrew. 
Finally, Lewis quits the stage of his own accord and 
returns to Kentucky, while Eachel goes down the river to 
Natchez on a visit which she seems to have had in con- 
templation for quite a while. When Judge Overton cas- 
ually mentions the fact that Andrew went along with 
Eachel "to keep the Indians off," we find ourselves on 
the point of overlooking the fact that, to all intents and 
purposes, the defeated Lewis Eobards has been driven 
off the stage, and that here is the triumphant Andrew 
running away with the prize. 

Says the Judge, — relating how hard were Andrew 
Jackson's efforts to help Lewis Eobards keep his wife 
for himself: — 

"Mr. Jackson met Captain Eobards near the orchard 
fence and began mildly to remonstrate with him respect- 
ing the injustice he had done his wife as well as himself." 

I have a somewhat fertile imagination, myself, and I 
paint a good many varieties of fancy pictures without 
much difficulty, but somehow the imaginary scene which 
I draw, representing Andrew Jackson as mildly demon- 
strating with a husband who had wrongfully accused him 
concerning that husband's wife, doesn't seem to me to 
be a speaking likeness of Andrew Jackson. 

Nature's nobleman in his relations to women — chiv- 
alrous, gallant and winning — he was one of the purest 
men of his time. 

Throughout his career, Andrew Jackson was assailed 
by almost every weapon known to political and personal 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 59 

malice, but nobody ever accused him of dishonoring a 
woman ! 

Now it is perfectly plain that he loved Rachel Donel- 
son with all the ardor of his fiery nature — can you pic- 
ture him "mildly remonstrating" with anyone who had 
accused him of improper relations with her? 

You feel, instinctively, that Jackson's blood boiled 
the moment he heard the foul slander, and that his voice, 
in talking to Lewis Robards, must have trembled with 
rage. 

Judge Overton continues: 

"In a little time Robards became violently angry and 
abusive and threatened to whip Jackson, and made a 
show of doing so." 

Now, surely, something will happen: Robards has 
not only brought a false charge of worst kind against 
Jackson, but has actually threatened to whip him, and 
made a show of doing so. 

But nothing happens. 

I wonder what sort of a "show of doing so," Robards 
made. 

When I was a boy, it sometimes chanced that I was a 
scared looker-on when angry men "made a show of 
doing so." 

"D — ^n you! I'm going to whip you!" 

Off would go the coat, up would go the clenched fist, 
and, perhaps, instead of a blow there would be the men- 
ace which was called ' ' shaking the fist in a man 's face. ' ' 

It was considered an eternal disgrace to let another 
man shake his list in your face. You must hit him, right 
then, or your best friends would leave you — your own 
wife would be ashamed of you. 

My young reader, ask your father or grandfather how 
it used to be, out at the cross-roads store and in the 
country village. 

Now, Mr. Parton, who adopted the story which Judge 
Overton did not vouch for, wants you to believe that 
Andrew Jackson accepted meekly an insult which you 
know it was not in his nature to have endured. Given 



60 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Jackson's known traits of character, you know that the 
statement is absurd. 

Take another sentence from the story which Judge 
Overton relates as having been told to him : 

** Jackson told him (Eobards) that he had not bodily 
strength to fight him, nor would he do so, feeling con- 
scious of his innocence." 

Heavens, what a tale ! 

Another storj^^ of how Jackson persuaded Lewis Eob- 
ards to go back to his Old Kentucky Home strikes me as 
being pretty near the truth. It represents Jackson as 
promising his friends, in Kobard's hearing, not to kill 
Robards, — but at the same time fingering a big knife, 
and, at the same time, eyeing Robards in a most hungry, 
suggestive way. 

Robards attached less importance to Jackson's words 
of peace than he did to Jackson's little preparations for 
war^ — so he went away and did not come back. 

According to the statement of Gen. George L. David- 
son, Robards broke into a run as he retired, for the rea- 
son that Jackson was after him with that butcher knife. 
Robards plunged into a cane-brake, and there Jackson 
gave up the chase. 

.According to Davidson's version of the affair, Rob- 
ards had sworn out a peace warrant against Jackson, and 
the latter got rid of the case in the manner above stated, 
for the non-appearance of the prosecutor in court the 
warrant had to be dismissed. 

Gen. Davidson must have known the facts as well as 
anybody, for he was boarding with Mrs. Donelson at the 
time, just as Jackson was. 

The conclusion of the Judge Overton's narrative is 
equally entertaining. 

Remember that Robards has gone to Kentucky and 
that Rachel is to go to Natchez. 

We have seen that Jackson went along too, but now 
you must be told how hard it was to persuade him to 
escort Rachel on this river-journey. 

Quoth Judge Overton: 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 61 

'*It was not without the urgent entreaties of Colonel 
Stark, who wanted protection from the Indians, that 
Jackson consented to accompany them." 

Timorous Colonel Stark! Endangered Eachel! Re- 
luctant Andrew Jackson! What a funny mix up, to be 
sure. 

Who was Colonel Stark, anyway? 

How does he happen to crowd in upon the stage with 
such abrupt intrusiveness? 

What's the matter with Rachel's brother Sam, who 
had gone to Kentucky to fetch his sister home? 

With delightful naivete. Judge Overton offers the ex- 
planation that the Indians were "exceedingly trouble- 
some" at that time. 

Of course they were. 

But was it expected that Andrew Jackson should 
whip,. scatter, and destroy all those ''exceedingly trouble- 
some Indians" by himself? 

Col. Stark, as you must understand, could not be de- 
pended on in case of a battle with those Indians, for 
Judge Overton takes the pains to tell us that Col. Stark 
was a "venerable and highly esteemed old man." 

Consequently it was Jackson going up, single-handed 
and alone, against "the Indians, then in a state of w^r 
and exceedingly troublesome." Even brother Sam is 
not needed, — Andrew will do it all by himself. 

Reader, use your own intelligence, and you will reject 
biographies written after that fashion. 

It is my purpose to tell you the truth about this great 
man Andrew Jackson ; and to show him to you as a man. 
I have no patience with writers who try to make Saints, 
or marble statuary, out of the subjects they handle. 

By the time I get through with Jackson, you will ap- 
preciate his real strength and greatness quite as much as 
you need to do ; and you will also become acquainted with 
him as a man. 

It is not certain how long Rachel Robards remained 
with her friends in Natchez after Andrew Jackson had 
taken her there, but she is soon found at the home of 



62 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Thomas M. Green, a planter who lived near the mouth of 
Cowles Creek, near Bruinsburgh. 

The biographers of Andrew Jackson strain and strive 
mightily to ignore the fact that their hero was a negro 
trader in his early days, but it is a fact nevertheless : and 
at Bruinsburgh he had a small store, or trading post, 
where the slaves, bought in Tennessee or the Carolinas, 
were sold to the planters of Mississippi and Louisiana. 
It was in this way that Jackson came to know Thomas 
and Abner Green, men of wealth, whose first dealings 
with him had consisted in the purchase of negroes for 
their plantations. 

The store of Jackson stood immediately upon the 
bank of the Mississippi ; there was a race-track for quar- 
ter-races, and local tradition represents Jackson himself 
as sometimes riding the horse that he had entered for 
the race, just as it represents him pitting his own birds 
in cock-fights. 

Parton states that Jackson lived in this hut on the 
Mississippi after his marriage to Rachel Robards. 

This must be a mistake, for Judge Overton states 
positively that after the marriage the couple returned to 
Nashville. 

It must be, as Sparks relates in his "Memories of 
Fifty Years," that Jackson lived at Bruinsburgh before 
the marriage. 

Ordinarily, the ''Memories of Fifty Years" is to be 
rejected as an authority : the book was written in the ex- 
treme old age of the author and is full of fable. But 
William H. Sparks himself married into the Green fam- 
ily, lived in the Bruinsburgh neighborhood, and must be 
presumed to have known what the Greens had to say 
concerning their great friend and his beloved wife. 

It would seem that it was Jackson himself who found 
the refuge for his Rachel in the time of her sorest need ; 
and that it was doing a personal favor to Jackson when 
the brothers, Thomas and Abner Green, received Rachel 
as an honored inmate in their homes. 

Sparks married the youngest daughter of Abner 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 63 

Green, and he mentions a visit of himself and wife to the 
White House to pay their respects to the aged President,, 
Andrew Jackson. 

''We called," writes Sparks, "to see the President, 
and when my lady was introduced to the General, he was 
informed that she was the daughter of his old friend, 
Abner Green. 

"He did not speak, but held her hand for some mo- 
ments, gazing intently into her face. His feelings over- 
came him, and clasping her to his bosom, he said : 

" 'I must kiss you, my child, for your sainted moth- 
er's sake;' then holding her from him, he looked again, 
*0h! how like your mother you are — she was the friend 
of my poor Rachel when she so much needed a friend. ' ' ^ 

Poor Rachel was then (1835) dead, and the sight of 
the sweet young face that reminded the bereaved hus- 
band-lover of the days when his bride-to-be was waiting 
for him there in the home of his friends, on the Missis- 
sippi — young, lovely, devoted — melted into weeping the 
tough warrior whom the hardened borderers had nick- 
named Old Hickory. 

As already related, Lewis Robards did not relish the 
look which Andrew Jackson fastened upon him as he 
tried the edge and point of that big hunting-knife and 
pledged himself not to kill the said Robards. 

Owing to this circumstance and others over which he 
had no control. Captain Robards went back to Ken- 
tucky ; and in the winter of 1790-1 he applied to the Leg- 
islature for relief, alleging that his wife was living in 
adultery with Andrew Jackson. 

Parton struggled heroically to confuse the story at 
this critical period. Apparently, he wished to hide the 
fact that Capt. Lewis Robards accused Andrew and 
Rachel of living together in adultery, prior to that first 
and wholly illegal marriage of theirs. 

The true statement is that Captain Robards honestly 
believed that his wife had betrayed him, and that illicit 
relations existed between her and her lover. In this he 
was most certainly wrong ; but the man is entitled to fair 



64 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

treatment and the case must be considered from his 
point of view as well as from that of the wife and her 
lover. 

Eobards acted precisely as the average man would 
have done under similar circumstances. "He appealed 
to the proper authorities for redress." He asked for a 
divorce upon the highest and best ground. 

The Legislature of Virginia, — which then had juris- 
diction over Kentucky — passed an act authorizing Lewis 
Robards to proceed in the Supreme Court of Kentucky 
to make good, before a jury, the truth of the allegations 
brought by him against Rachel Robards. In the event 
that he proved her guilt, and the jury should return a 
verdict to that effect, then "the marriage between the 
said Lewis Robards and the said Rachel shall be totally 
dissolved." 

Now a strange thing happened — a blunder which 
made Jackson sore on that point during the remainder 
of his life. 

Without any investigation of the kind of Act the 
Legislature of Virginia had passed, this most impetuous 
of men accepted the mere rumor that a divorce had been 
granted, and he rushed headlong into a marriage with 
Rachel — who was still the wife of another man. It is 
almost incredible that a lawyer, the District Attorney 
whose business it was, constantly, to be examining just 
such matters, should never have thought it necessary to 
send for a copy of the Act which so vitally concerned 
himself and that human being whom he loved above all 
others. 

Blissfully unconscious of crime, the lovers began to 
live together as man and wife ! 

It was not until Sept. 1793, that a Kentucky jury 
found by their verdict that Lewis Robards was entitled 
to a divorce ; whereupon, the Court dissolved the marital 
tie which until that day had bound Rachel to Robards. 

There seems to be no record of what were the details 
of the evidence put before the jury, nOr as to what time 
the witnesses fixed in testifying. No court conducting 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 65 

itself according to legal rules, would hold that evidence 
of acts occurring after the filing of the complaint are suf- 
ficient to warrant a verdict. 

Therefore, Robards was probably compelled to con- 
fine his evidence chiefly to acts antedating his formal 
complaint to the Legislature. 

In that event, the ugly fact would stare us in the face 
that Lewis Robards, after publication in the newspapers 
of his intention to do so— as the Act of the Legislature 
required— satisfied a Court and jury that Rachel "hath 
deserted the Plaintiff, Lewis Robards, and hath, and 
doth still live in adultery with another man. ' ' 

The marvel is that Jackson never, so far as we have 
been told, made any effort to secure a repeal of the Act 
of the Virginia Legislature, or any effort to keep up with 
the proceedings of Robards afterwards. 

When informed late in 1793 that Robards had at 
length obtained a divorce, he took out a license in Nash- 
ville and another marriage ceremony was performed 
uniting him and Rachel, once more, in the holy bonds of 
wedlock. 

This time he felt sure that Rachel was his lawful wife, 
but according to a recent decision of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, she was still "living in adultery 
with another man." 

Neither the Virginia Legislature nor the Kentucky 
courts had any jurisdiction over Rachel; and according 
to the aforesaid decision, there never was a legal divorce 
from her first husband. 

The irregularities attending this historic marriage of 
Andrew Jackson were a source of endless trouble to him 
and to others. 

"He took another man's wife away from him" — was 
a taunt which followed him for many years. 

After all, it amounted to about that. 

Calmly sifting such evidence as we can get, carefully 
weighing such circumstances as are free from doubt, 
making due allowance for the lack of scruple which Jack- 
son always manifested when he was intensely in earnest^ 



66 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

one is forced to admit that it was substantially as Se- 
vier's rough statement put it. 

Jackson did take Rachel away from Robards, — she 
being most willing and co-operative. But who will much 
blame Andrew Jackson? 

Who will say that a loveless connection with Robards 
should have kept these great loving souls apart? 

As the lion beats off the weaker rival and takes to his 
royal self the mate of his choice, so Andrew Jackson 
took Rachel. 

Only the man of intense, volcanic passions — he who 
loves and hates with blind, unreasoning fury, — knows 
how impossible it was for Jackson to have acted other- 
wise. 

Robards was the victim of the unwritten but univer- 
•. sal law which gives Right of Way to the Stronger Will. 
^ In the clash between himself and Jackson, the King- 
lier man won the victory and bore off the prize. 

Robards, indeed, was not deeply attached to Rachel. 
She was a barren woman, and in those days, more than 
now, children were desired, and large families were a 
source of strength and pride. 

/ As in Scriptural times, the barren woman was some- 
/what of a reproach both to herself and her husband. 

Consequently, while Robards resented the conduct of 
Jackson, it caused him no lasting affliction to lose 
Rachel. 

Some 30 years ago there was published in the St. 
Louis Post Dispatch a most interesting and valuable 
article on the elopement of Mrs. Robards with Andrew 
Jockson. It is based upon authentic documents, and its 
tone is eminently judicial. 

After all, there is nO satisfactory answer to the ques- 
tion which one of the female descendents of Robards put 
to a newspaper reporter. Her question was this : 

"If Andrew Jackson did not court Rachel Donaldson 
while she was the wife of Lewis Robards, when did he 
court her?" 

Governor John Sevier, who was familiar with all the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 67 

facts, plumply said that Jackson had "run off with an- 
other man's wife." 

The Post Dispatch article is so well worth preserving 
that I give it place in the Appendix to this chapter. 

Jackson's Wife. 

From all over the country come the echoes of the annual cele- 
bration of the Battle of New Orleans, of which Gen. Andrew Jack- 
son was the hero. This year more than ever before have the 
praises of. the old warrior been sung, because of the political exi- 
gencies of the times, no doubt, for politicians great and small have 
not neglected the opportunity to call attention to the fearlessness 
and honesty of his administration, which no party can deny. To 
his natural traits of character, his boldness, self-confidence, and 
determination, must be attributed the enduring features of his ad- 
ministration, for if his master strokes of diplomacy, endowed with 
his strong personality, had not been crowned with success, they 
would have been handed down as great blunders. His whole public 
life, like his private life, was marked by a strong purpose to follow 
his own bent, regardless of the consequences, and he carried his 
points by the sheer force of his character. It was in this same 
spirit that he invaded another man's home and carried away his 
wife, paying no heed then to how the world might look upon it. 
He fell in love with her, he wanted her for himself, she recipro- 
cated and he took her boldly away. 

This, however, was a blunder, and left upon his escutcheon a 
moral stain, which all of the sophistry and juggling with facts by 
his friends can never efface or conceal. His marriage to Rachael 
Donaldson, like Napoleon's repudiation of Josephine, was the fatal 
error of his life, and left a scar which never can be healed. It is 
the sensitiveness of this sore, no doubt, which compels his admirers 
at ever recurring intervals to tear away the bandages and probe it 
and make fresh efforts to cure it by denials and explanations and 
extenuations of the circumstances which can never be denied or 
explained away so long as the records of the courts stand, to show 
the falsity of their statements and reasoning. Just one hundred 
years have elapsed since this fatal mistake was made, and curiously 
enough General Butler, in his speech before the Butler Club, of 
Boston, January 8, recalled this circumstance in Jackson's life, ex- 
plaining it away in such terms as challenged the criticism of all 
students of history, and which were calculated to leave the impres- 
sion, which Jackson's defenders have always sought to make, that 
Mrs. Jackson was the injured wife of an unworthy spouse, from 
which a divorce was a matter of necessity. In his address, speak- 
ing of Jackson, General Butler said: "He went into the White 
House with an unsullied character. In every relation of life, with 
his family and society, his name and fame were untarnished." 
And again: "Against his private life nothing was ever breathed. 
The worst things the Whig party could ever say of him was that 
he had married a woman who had been legally divorced by the 
Legislature of Virginia, but there were doubts whether State rights 
would allow such a divorce, because it might destroy the contract 
as against the objections of the Constitution. 

"For her sake, he appealed to the State of Kentucky, where they 



68 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

lived, and obtained a divorce without a contest, and married again, 
so that nothing should appear against that lovely and loved woman; 
lovely, not in person, as we say women are beautiful, but lovely 
because she was as near good as is permitted for mortal man or 
woman to be. That was her character." 

Since the Jackson presidential campaign, the true history of this 
affair has never been published. It was hushed up on the election 
of Jackson to fill the chief office of the nation, but now that a cen- 
tury has passed, and the affair can be talked of dispassionately, 
there seems to be no reason why the true facts of the case can not 
be published, and justice done to the man who was wronged. 

Sojourning, a good many years ago, for a time in Central Ken- 
tucky, I was located in the oldest town in the State, where I soon 
found much to interest me in the village gossip of noted people 
about generations dead and gone. I was surprised to find that in 
the old clerk's office was recorded the papers concerning the Jack- 
son-Donaldson scandal, and that the old Robards homestead had 
stood within easy distance of the town, though only a pile of stones 
and a huge square chimney then remained to mark the spot where 
dwelt the widow of Robards, from whose fireside Andrew Jackson 
stole her son's wife away. 

Recognizing the fact that I had stumbled upon a bit of impor- 
tant history, I proceeded at once to the task of gathering up the 
threads of the tangled skein, not difficult then (some thirty years 
ago), for I found many people still alive who were perfectly 
familiar with the facts, which had been impressed upon their mem- 
ories by the bitter crimination and recrimination of the Jackson 
campaign. There are living at the present day five generations of 
the Robards family, the oldest of whom remember the events as 
detailed to them by their parents sixty or seventy years ago. And 
there are the records of the courts, which prove all the essential 
points of the case. The story, as heard direct from these people, is 
given to the readers of the Sunday Post-Dispatch, with full details 
concerning the family of Capt. Lewis Robards, husband of Rachael 
Donaldson, whom history has been kind enough to hand down by 
that name, though, as will be seen, she was the legal wife of Rob- 
ards for two years after eloping with Jackson. 

A detailed history of the Robards family is given here for two 
reasons, first to prove the credibility of the narrative, and secondly 
by way of refutation of the assertion often made in palliation of 
her fault, that Rachael Donaldson after her marriage found herself 
so superior to her surroundings, and her lawful husband and his 
family so unappreciative of her worth, that she was more readily 
captivated by attentions shown her from such a man as Jackson. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century, William Robards, a 
Welshman, came to the United States and settled in Goochland 
County, Virginia. Here he met and married Miss Sallie Hill, of the 
well-known Hill, Imboden, and Mosby families of Virginia and 
North Carolina. From this union there sprung a goodly number of 
sons and daughters, of whom Capt. Lewis Robards, husband of 
Rachel Donaldson, was the second son. When the Colonial War 
was declared between the United States and Great Britain, George 
Robards, and his youngest brother, Lewis, enlisted in the Colonial 
army as privates, and when the war was over returned to their 
liome in Virginia, with the rank of captains, which titles they bore 
ever afterward. Not many years later they started out Westward 
through the wilderness, taking with them their land scrip, which 
was the only pay they ever received from the Government, and with 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 69 

their guns upon their shoulders they made their way to Kentucky, 
where they concluded to settle, and located a large area of land in 
the richest part of the now famous bluegrass region, at a point 
known as Cane Run, in Mercer county, about the center of the State. 
After spending two or three years in the wilderness, clearing their 
land for cultivation, and helping to rid the country of the Indians, 
they returned to Virginia, where their father had died, and, after 
settling up his estate, they went back to Kentucky, taking with 
them their mother and her large family of younger sons and daugh- 
ters, and carried with them also a large number of slaves which 
belonged to the estate. 

By the women of a family its social status may be determined; 
a man may sink below, or rise above the level, set by the world. 
That the Robards women were distinguished more than most others 
of that early day for their beauty and culture may be inferred from 
the brilliant marriages made by them and the marked traits of 
their descendants. The oldest daughter of the Widow Robards 
married Hon. Thomas Davis, the first Congressman from Kentucky, 
and the second daughter married his brother. After the death of 

Thomas Davis his widow married the Hon. Floyd, Territorial 

Governor of one of the Western Territories. The third sister mar- 
ried Col. John Jouett, whose career covers several pages of the con- 
densed history of Kentucky, and who for gallantry upon the field of 
battle received a sword from the Old Dominion, which is still in 
the possession of the family. Of her descendants, renowned in 
history, was her son. Matt Jouett, the distinguished artist, and his 
son, Admiral Jouett, now prominent in the United States Navy. The 
youngest daughter of the Robards' house married Capt. William 
Buckner, Surveyor-General of the State of Kentucky, when it was 
yet a colony, a nephew of President Madison, and raised in his 
house. She was the grandmother of a distinguished line. Gen. 
Simon B. Buckner and Hon. Richard A. Buckner, a distinguished 
lawyer, and several descendants who were members of Congress. 

Meanwhile, Capt. George Robards, the oldest son and executor 
of his father's estate, had in 1785 married in the Mother State, 
Virginia, and brought home with him a lovely young bride. Miss 
Elizabeth B. Sampson, a granddaughter of the Dutois, French 
Huguenots, who emigrated from France with a number of others, 
who settled the "Manuiken Town," on the James river. From this 
union sprang another stock of famous men and women. Their 
grandson, Hon. John B. Thompson, represented Kentucky in Con- 
gress and the United States Senate for over twenty years, and his 
seat in Congress was filled after his death by his nephew, the great- 
gandson of George Robards. Several eminent lawyers and jurists 
are also numbered among his descendants. And here again the 
women of the family shine pre-eminent, for his grand-daughters, 
famed for their beauty and accomplishments, were married to 
prominent men from various parts of the country, statesmen and 
lawyers chiefly, whose names may be found upon the roll of honor. 
Judging from all this, it must be inferred that "Widow Robards," 
as she was called, must surely have been herself a remarkable 
woman for that day and generation. 

It was into this house that Rachael Donaldson was introduced 
by her marriage to the second son of the widow, Capt. Lewis 
Robards. 

It happened in this wise: Several years after Mrs. Robards 
emigrated with her family from Virginia, she found that the log 
house which had been built for them, and served their necessities 



70 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

when they first reached Kentucky, had grown too small for their 
further occupancy. So she had built near a famous spring of clear 
water, the first stone house ever erected in Central Kentucky, and 
around her hearthstone were gathered her sons, and daughters, and 
the wife of the oldest son. Soon after the removal of the family 
into the new stone house winter came on, and a Mrs. Donaldson, 
also a widow, moving from North Carolina by wagons to the West, 
was caught by its storms in the Cane Run neighborhood, and, being 
unable to proceed further, petitioned Mrs. Robards to allow her to 
occupy the deserted log cabin, which petition was readily granted, 
and thus the widow Donaldson and family were installed within a 
stone's throw of the Robards homestead. Of her family, was the 
fair Rachael, whom history credits with great beauty and winsome 
ways, though lacking in refinement. Sumner says of her: "She 
was not at all fitted to share the destiny which befell Jackson." 
However that may be, she soon ensnared the heart of Widow Rob- 
ards' second son, Capt. Lewis Robards, whom tradition credits with 
having been a handsome cavalier, fond of his horses and his 
hounds, and history makes no specific charges against him, other 
than the possession of a high temper, and jealous disposition, 
which, if true, after events fully justified. A short courtship was 
soon followed by marriage and thus Rachael Donaldson was trans- 
ferred to his mother's household, without objection on the part of 
any member of his family. 

At that time Kentucky was a perfect mine of litigation, owing 
to the insecure tenure of the land titles, some of the claims being 
held from the Indians, some from Virginia, or from the Government, 
either by purchase, or pre-emption, or scrip, causing an everlasting 
conflict from many directions. It is presumed that in the prose- 
cution of some such law business Andrew Jackson, a prominent 
young lawyer, came from Tennessee, and was introduced into 
the family by Colonel Overton, who was a distant relative of 
Hon. Thomas Davis, who married afterward the eldest daughter 
of the house. As there were no inns in those days and every man's 
latch-string hung outside, Jackson became a member of the Robards 
household and came and went at his pleasure so long as his busi- 
ness detained him in that part of the country, no one observing that 
he showed any particular partiality for the society of Lewis Rob- 
ards' wife. It was true, as stated by various historians, that her 
disposition to find pleasure in the society of other men than her 
husband had been noted and that her levity of conduct with a Mr. 
Peyton Short had occasioned considerable gossip and did afterward 
create so great a disturbance as to occasion her husband to appeal 
to her mother, who had then moved to Nashville, Tenn., to send 
for her, which she did, Mrs. Robards' uncle. Mr. Donaldson, coming 
for her. It was not, however, thought by the family or her hus- 
band that it was anything more grave than a lightness of deport- 
ment incompatible with her position; but these people were very 

■proud, and set great store by their untarnished name. That she 
was considered simply willful and imprudent is proven by the fact 
that her uncle came for her and took her away peaceably, which 
could scarcely have happened if any serious or false charges had 
been made against her. 

As Jackson had returned to Tennessee before this without hav- 
ing betrayed any weakness for her, it is possible that his love affair 
with her did not commence until she went to her mother's home in 
Tennessee, where she either found him domiciled already, or he 

•became a member of her mother's family soon afterward. Mean- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 71 

while Lewis Robards loved his wife devotedly, and after some 
friendly Intervention agreed to a reconciliation and went to Ten- 
nessee to join her at her mother's home. It has been stated that he 
purchased a farm there, intending to reside near her mother. It 
was not long, however, after he went to Tennessee, before he found 
Jackson paying her such attentions as she should not have received. 
Colonel Overton, who was also residing in the house, in his memoirs 
of Jackson, states that he remonstrated with Jackson, and urged 
him to leave the house, as he was causing fresh trouble between the 
husband and the wife. He also stated that Robards had a stormy 
Interview with Jackson concerning the matter, and that Jackson 
retreated into the house, saying that he was not so strong a man as 
Robards, and therefore could not fight him. That is not at all 
probable; considering the natures of these two men and the cause 
of quarrel, they would not have had a bloodless interview in those 
days. Neither is it probable, as stated by Colonel Overton, that 
Robards left the house in anger and returned to Kentucky, leaving 
his wife behind him. It is far more probable that he took her back 
with him and installed her once more in his mother's home without 
even mentioning to them the reason for bringing her back; there is 
no tradition in the family of the episode at Nashville. The elope- 
ment with Jackson from her husband's home seemed to have fallen 
like a thunderbolt upon them, for, as stated before, they had not up 
to that time credited her with anything more serious than impru- 
dence of behavior. 

Colonel Overton was Jackson's life-long friend, and his account 
of the affair was written to vindicate him. Up to the point of the 
elopement it is fair enough, but there he was obliged to diverge, 
hence made so lame a statement that one can easily read between 
the lines and draw their own inferences. According to Overton, 
Robards, in anger, left his wife in Nashville with her mother, some 
time in the fall of 1790. Early in 1791, having heard that her hus- 
band was going to return for her, she decided to go with some 
friends, Mr. Stark and wife, to Natchez, Jackson going along with 
them to protect them from the Indians. He remained there until 
time for the May court, when he returned to Nashville. On his 
arrival in Nashville he heard that Robards had applied to the Legis- 
lature of Virginia for a divorce from his wife, and supposing that it 
had been granted, Jackson went back to Natchez in July, where he 
married her privately. 

That the affair was not quite so genteelly and quietly conducted 
will be shown hereafter by the records of the court, which also 
prove that she was not at her mother's, abandoned by her husband 
in jealous anger as stated, but that she "eloped" from her hus- 
band's home, which tallies also with the family history. 

There is no certain knowledge as to the exact facts of the elope- 
ment. It is only known that in Captain Robards' absence from 
home Jackson carried his wife away. One historian says: "He 
rode off one fine day, carrying her upon his horse behind him." This 
can hardly be true. The tradition runs, however, that when Rob- 
ards returned home and found that his wife had gone with Jackson, 
he followed in hot pursuit with his body servant, until they reached 
a stream near the Tennessee border, called Bear Wallow. Here he 
found that they had crossed the river by the ferry, which was de- 
tained on the other side, cutting off his further progress. His 
servant, to the day of his death, gave graphic accounts of the chase, 
and stated that Robards and Jackson exchanged shots from the op- 
posite sides of the river, and Jackson fearing for the safety of the 



72 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

woman, hastened on his journey, while Robards returned home, to 
consider his future course. The people living in the vicinity of Bear 
Wallow used to point out to strangers a tree upon the bank of the 
river, scarred they said by the shots. 

When Robards reached home, before deciding what his next 
step should be, he examined the effects left behind by his fugitive 
wife and found letters so damaging to her character that he decided 
by the advice of his friends that a decree of divorce, and not his 
wife, was what he wanted. In accordance, therefore, with his de- 
termination he took immediate steps, according to the methods pre- 
scribed by law, which were necessarily tedious, since Kentucky was 
still a part of Virginia. From Parton's "History of Jackson" I make 
the following extract and append the copies of the records procured 
from the clerk's office. 

By the early laws of Virginia if a man convinced of his wife's 
infidelity desired to be divorced from her, he was obliged to pro- 
cure an act of the Legislature, authorizing an investigation of the 
charge before a jury, and pronouncing the marriage bond dissolved, 
provided that jury found her guilty. In the winter of 1799-91,, 
Lewis Robards, of Kentucky, originally part of Virginia, the hus- 
band of the beautiful and vivacious Rachael Donaldson, appeared 
before the Legislature of Virginia with a declaration to the effect 
that his wife, Rachael, had deserted him, and had lived in adultery 
with another man, to-wit, Andrew Jackson, attorney-at-law. Where- 
upon the Legislature of Virginia passed an act entitled, "An act 
concerning the marriage of Lewis Robards," of which the following 
is a copy: 

Section l. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall 
and may be lawful for Lewis Robards to sue out of the office of the 
Supreme Court of the District of Kentucky a writ against Rachael 
Robards, which writ shall be framed by the clerk, and express the 
nature of the case, and shall be placed for eight weeks successively 
in the Kentucky Gazette; whereupon the plaintiff may file his dec- 
laration in the same cause, and the defendant may appear and plead 
to issue, in which case, or if she does not appear within two months 
after such publication, it may be set for trial by the clerk on some 
day in the succeeding court, but may, for good cause shown in the 
court, be continued until the term succeeding. 

Sec. 2. Commissions to take depositions and subpoenas to sum- 
mon witnesses shall issue as in other cases. 

Sec. 3. Notice of taking of depositions, published in the Ken- 
tucky Gazette, shall be sufficient. 

Sec. 4. A jury shall be summoned who shall be sworn, well and 
truly to inquire into the allegations contained in the declaration, or 
to try the issue joined, as the case may be, and shall find a verdict 
according to the usual mode; and if the jury, in case of issue 
joined, shall find for the plaintiff or in case of inquiry into the truth 
of the allegations contained in the declaration, shall find in sub- 
stance that the defendant hath deserted the plaintiff, and that she 
hath lived in adultery with another man since that desertion, the 
said verdict shall be recorded, and, thereupon, the marriage between 
the said Lewis Robards and Rachael shall be totally dissolved. 

This application to the Legislature of Virginia was not made, it 
seems, without Jackson's knowledge, and as a lawyer, practicing in 
the courts of Kentucky and Virginia, he knew the natural process 
of the law. If the charges were not true, ready, as he afterward 
proved himself to be, to resent any insult to her, he certainly would 
have come forward and done her the justice to disprove the charge. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 73 

His partisans do not claim that he did not know of it, but, on the 
contrary, Jackson, supposing that the divorce had been granted 
(upon what ground, if the charge was not true?), "married Rachael 
Donaldson in July, 1791." 

Meanwhile the Virginia Legislature passed the act as before 
mentioned (copied from their records). It required then some 
time, the country being a wilderness with no mails established to 
convey the official notice to Kentucky and await the convening of 
the Supreme Court, to take depositions and serve notices, etc., all 
of which Jackson knew and had abundant time to defend the 
woman, for it was not until 1793, the April term of the Mercer Cir- 
cuit Court, that the case was called and set for hearing in the June 
court. This is a copy: 

"-The first notice which appears on the Mercer clerk's records, 
Lewis Robards, complains of Rachael Robards in custody, etc., of a 
plea of adultery "for this to-wit: 

-"That whereas the said Rachael Robards on the day of 

in the year was in due form, according to law, united in 

the holy bonds of matrimony with the said Lewis Robards, never- 
theless the said Rachael, in violation of her most solemn promise 
did, on the day of July, in the year 1790, elope from her hus- 
band, said Lewis, and live in adultery with another man, and still 
continues with the adulterer. Therefore, the said Lewis prays that 
the said marriage between said Rachael and Lewis may be dis- 
solved according to an act of the Assembly in that case made and 
provided. J- BROWN." 

' (This John Brown Robards' attorney, was at that time a distin- 
guished lawyer, and was aftterward the first representative of Ken- 
tucky in the United States Senate.) 

Right here is a discrepancy in Overton's story, and the court 
records, which show that she "eloped from her husband" in July, 
1790, while Overton represents her as living with her husband at 
her mother's in Nashville, in the fall of 1790, and early in 1791, as 
going to Natchez with Jackson and the Starks, while in point of fact 
she had eloped in July, 1790. This record also settles the manner 
of her leaving. 

For some reason, probably on account of the absence of impor- 
tant witnesses, the suit was laid over until the September court, 
third day, as the following paper copied from the records shows: 

"The Commonwealth of Kentucky to the Sheriff of Mercer 
County, greeting: lou are hereby commanded to summon Hugh 
McGarey and John Cowan to appear before the Justices of our 
court of Quarter Sessions at the Court-house on the third day of 
September court next, to testify and the truth to say in behalf of 
Lewis Robards in a certain matter of controversy in our said court, 
depending and undetermined between the said Lewis, plaintiff, and 
Rachael Robards, defendant. And this they shall in nowise omit 
under the penalty of $100 each, and have then and there these wit- 
nesses. THOMAS ALLEN, 

"Clerk of said court, at the Court-house, August 6, 1793." 

This Hugh McGarey was the well-known Kentucky pioneer, 
whose deeds of intrepid valor may be found detailed at length in 
any history of Kentucky. His testimony was indisputable. John 

6 a j 



74 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Cowen, though not so marked a character in history, was equally 
credible as a witness. 

As the law required the due notification of Rachael Robards and 
she made no answer, the divorce was granted, the jury bringing in 
the verdict, of which the following is a copy: 

"We, the jury, do find that the defendant, Rachael Robards, 
hath deserted her husband, the plaintiff, Lewis Robards, and hath 
and doth still live in adultery with another man. 

"JOHN LIGHTFOOT." 

The following transcript from the records of Mercer County, 
Kentucky, shows the final result of this proceding: 

"At a court of Quarter Sessions held for Mercer County at the 
Court-house in Harrodsburg on the 27th day of September, 1793, 
this day came the plaintiff by his attorney, and thereupon came also 
a jury, to-wit: James Bradbury, Thomas Smith, Gabriel Slaughter, 
John Lightfoot, Samuel Work, Harrison Davis, John Ray, Obediah 
Wright, John Mills, John Means, Joseph Thomas and Benjamin 
Sanders, who, being elected, tried and sworn, well and truly to in- 
quire into the allegation in the plaintiff's declaration, specified upon 
oath, do say that the defendant, Rachael Robards, hath and doth 
still live in adultery with another man. It is therefore considered 
by the court that the marriage between the plaintiff and the de- 
fendant is dissolved." 

Thus ended this celebrated case. Jackson had been living with 
her as his wife for over two years when it was closed. They never 
were heard from in regard to it while it was pending, and never 
would have been heard from again if he had never become a great 
man with the eyes of the nation upon him. That Jackson, a lawyer, 
did not know of or keep track of the proceedings is preposterous, 
yet Overton states that at the end of two years Jackson was sur- 
prised to learn that it had just been decided, and, upon his sugges- 
tion, was again married to her publicly. It is not known whether 
there is any record of this marriage. Near Natchez, Miss., there 
used to stand a ruined log hut, which was pointed out to strangers 
as the spot where they had passed their honeymoon. This was, no 
doubt, the spot to which he carried her when they first ran away, 
for she was kept "in a place of safety," says one historian, until 
after Robards applied for a divorce. Over thirty years they lived 
together quietly and without question, and perfectly unconcerned 
about the irregularity of their union, so far as any one knew, until 
he was put forward as the candidate of the Democratic party for 
President, when this episode of his private life was brought forward 
by the Whigs, and it became necessary for his friends to put as good 
a face upon the matter as could be made. Then disregarding the 
well known facts of the case, and the records of the courts, they 
proceeded to justify Jackson's conduct and his wife's by villifying 
her wronged husband. 

Here was an incomprehensible phase in Jackson's character, the 
injustice which he tacitly acknowledged to be done this man, whose 
home he destroyed. For the alienation of the affection of his wife, 
and robbing him of her, might be urged the excuse of unbridled and 
overmastering passion, which brooked no control, for he was young 
then — only twenty-four years of age — with no signs of his future 
greatness, but that he should have allowed this man whom he had 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 75 

wronged to go down to his grave under a cloud of misrepresentation 
was unworthy of the Jackson in his maturer years. It was a species 
of natural cowardice, not in keeping with his character, and can 
only be accounted for by the great love which he bore the woman, 
and the great necessity which was upon him to shield her from the 
consequence of the avowal of the facts in the case. Having put her 
in a false condition, against which as a man and a lawyer he should 
have protected her, he was bound to remain silent or answer any 
charges against her with a pistol shot. 

His own sensitiveness concerning the good name of his wife^ is 
the strongest proof which can be brought to the weakness of his 
cause. He was well aware of the inconsistencies of the explanation 
concerning their marriage and by way of strengthening it kept his 
pistol ready for any person who questioned it. His readiness to 
defend her was chivalrous and heroic, but painful in its results. 
Dickinson, a prominent young lawyer, was killed by him, his 
friends freely admit, because he committed the unpardonable sm of 
speaking disrespectfully of Mrs. Jackson's past life. His beautiful 
young wife to whom he had bid a fond goodbye in the early dawn, 
promising to return soon, was widowed a few hours later, by a 
pistol shot from Andrew Jackson for this cause. It is said that he 
regretted this more than any act of his life, and well he might, for 
in his heart of hearts he knew that Dickinson was justified in criti- 
cising this indiscretion of their youth. Mrs. Jackson died before 
the inauguration, only a few days, of a broken heart, it was said — 
certainly of heart disease. It was fortunate for her, and the nation, 
for she could not have presided at the White House without serious 
social complications. Luckily, also, there were no descendants of 
this ill-starred union. 

Capt. Lewis Robards, several years after obtaining the divorce, 
was married to a very handsome and estimable lady of Jefferson 
County, Kentucky, with whom he lived happily to a good old age, 
and their descendants may be found occupying positions of honor 
and trust in various parts of the country, in Kentucky and Mis- 
souri, chiefly. 



76 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DuEiNG the four or five years, next following his mar- 
riage, Jackson laid the foundations of a handsome for- 
tune. There was only one other lawyer in Nashville — 
consequently one side of every case naturally came to 
him. The records show that he did a brisk business from 
the very start. If the other attorney took a claim to col- 
lect, Jackson was necessarily employed to defend, pro- 
vided there was any defense to make. If, on the con- 
trary, the other lawyer accepted employment from a de- 
fendant, the plaintiff went to Jackson. There was noth- 
ing else he could do. The North Carolina bar practiced 
as far West as Jonesboro, but at that time they went no 
farther. Nashville being two hundred and eighty-three 
miles beyond Jonesboro, — as the road then ran, — North 
Carolina lawyers could not do a regular law business in 
Nashville. 

By virtue of his position as State Attorney, and of 
the fact that only one other lawyer was then in the field, 
Andrew Jackson reaped a rich harvest in fees, although 
he knew but little law. The strength of his position was 
that no one else had much the advantage of him. Com- 
mon sense, industry, courage, and a natural spirit of 
justice had more to do with decisions and verdicts than 
anything contained in the books. There were probably 
not a dozen law books in the library of either Jackson or 
his rival, and the illiterate jurors, as well as the inferior 
magistrates, cared nothing for English precedents or 
technical quibbles. 

In the court-house trials of our own day, one is too 
often reminded of the answer which the raw law-student 
made to his examiner, in response to the request that he 
explain the difference between Law and Equity. 

''Law is law, and Equity is Jestis'; and a man may 
get a blamed sight of law without gittin' any Jestis'." 

In the rude, informal times of Territorial Tennessee, 
the courts no doubt paid much greater heed to the die- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 77 

tates of natural justice than to the letter of statutes and 
the text of authorities. 

At Jonesboro, it is true, Jackson had to meet oppos- 
ing counsel who were fairly well learned in legal lore. 
To such attorneys, Jackson's lack of professional knowl- 
edge might appear so plainly that they would indulge the 
inclination to become sarcastic at his expense. In such a 
case, Jackson's line of action was characteristic, and, as 
usual, effective. 

When Col. Waightsill Avery, of North Carolina, 
pitted against Jackson in a legal battle in Jonesboro, let 
his inner convictions concerning Jackson's knowledge of 
the law crop out in sarcasms, Jackson immediately wrote 
out, on the blank leaf of a law-book, a challenge to fight, 
and handed the note to Avery on the spot. 

The challenge had to be accepted, of course, and on 
the evening of the same day Jacksoli and Avery were 
blazing away at one another with pistols. 

Fortunately, neither of these temporarily demented 
citizens was hit, and their friends succeeded in bringing 
about a treaty of peace. 

After this duel, it is not recorded that opposing coun- 
sel, in any case, ever made fun of Jackson's statements 
concerning the law. 

In a paper read by Albert Goodpasture before the 
Tennessee Historical Society, in 1895, is this statement: 

"With a bankrupt treasury and an impoverished peo- 
ple, it was the policy of North Carolina to constitute her 
Western territory a fund to reward the 'signal and per- 
severing zeal' of her officers and soldiers in the Revolu- 
tionary war. The act of Cession provided that the land 
laid off to the officers and soldiers of her continental line 
should still enure to their benefit; and if it should prove 
insufficient to make good the several provisions for 
them, the deficiency might be supplied out of any other 
part of the territory. And so liberally did she compen- 
sate her war-worn veterans out of this 'fund,' that more 
than 12,000,000 acres of the choice lands of the State 
were consumed in their payment. Not only was the mili- 



78 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

tary reservation exhausted, but practically all her other 
lands supposed to be fit for cultivation that had not al- 
ready been taken up on the occupancy and pre-emption 
claims of the hardy pioneers, whose rights were equally 
protected by the act of Cession, were likewise consumed 
in satisfying warrants issued for military services. The 
result was that the great body of the land in Tennessee 
was originally granted, either under the occupancy claim 
of the pioneer settler, or upon the military warrant of 
the Revolutionary soldier." 

In view of the facts set forth in the above, one is not 
surprised to learn that land-warrants became the medium 
of exchange in Territorial Tennessee. Land, in fact, was 
used as money — just as men are sometimes used in Af- 
rica, and women constantly in Asia. 

Very little gold and silver was in circulation. Trading 
was done on the plan of bartering cows for land, of 
swapping a horse for an axe, of giving buffalo hides for 
sugar and coffee. 

The historian, A. W. Putnam, states that "horses and 
cows, axes and cowbells, constituted the ready circulat- 
ing medium." To these were added the military war- 
rants for land, and, as small change, the Guard cer- 
tificates. 

The value and the importance of the axe to the pio- 
neer needs no explanation ; that of the cowbell will be un- 
derstood when we remember that the cow was turned out 
in the unfenced wilderness and got her living chiefly in 
the cane-brakes. 

When Andrew Jackson, or some other lawyer, had 
managed a piece of litigation which justified a reason- 
ably liberal fee, his client would pay him off with a "six 
forty." This meant that a land warrant for six hundred 
and forty acres was transferred by the client to the at- 
torney. In this manner, Jackson became the owner of 
thousands of acres of the finest land in Tennessee. 

To give yoti an idea of the comparative value of 
things at that time, a few of these bargains may prop- 
erly be mentioned. 




Jackson and his boat-load of negro slaves 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 79 

The hill upon which the Capitol of Tennessee was aft- 
erwards built was sold for a cow and calf. 

A large portion of the ground upon which one of the 
largest cities of the State now stands was sold for a rifle, 
a mare and a pair of leather breeches. 

For three axes and two cowbells, the owner of a 640 
acre tract, near Nashville, sold it ; and the owner of an- 
other ''six forty" swapped it for "a faithful rifle and a 
clear-toned bell." 

In the year 1795, Andrew Jackson, himself, in part- 
nership with his bosom friend, John Overtoil, bought the 
land whereon the great city of Memphis now stands, pay- 
ing $2,501.67. A fac-simile of the draft which supplied 
the money for the purchase, lies before me as I write. It 
bears date May 13, 1795, is drawn by David Allison on 
Col. James King, and is made payable to Andrew Jack- 
son or order. This interesting relic was kindly furnished 
me by Samuel L. King of Bristol, Tenn., a direct descend- 
ant of the drawee of the draft. 

It must not be forgotten that during these years of 
law business, land trading, and wealth getting, Jackson 
also dealt largely in negro slaves. 

During the Presidency of Jackson, General Edmund 
Pendleton Gaines, of the regular army, was in command 
of the Southern Department, with his headquarters at 
Memphis, Tenn. 

One night, Jesse Benton was the guest of General 
Gaines, and in the course of conversation during the 
evening, Benton said to Gaines: 

''General, there is a little chapter in my private his- 
tory which has never been made public. 

"Andrew Jackson, now President of the United 
States, Thos. H. Benton, now Senator from Missouri, 
John H. Eaton, now Governor of Florida, and I went 
down the river negro trading. As to Eaton, he was but 
a poor devil of a trader, selling but two, and one of these 
on commission; but Jackson made out pretty well; but 
whenever he made out a bill of sale of the negro he had 
sold he always spelled it ' Nigger. ' ' ' 



80 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

This statement was related by Edmimd P. Gaines, 
who was present and heard the conversation, to Col. John 
Bell Brownlo'w, about twelve years ago. 

To these years, just before and just after his mar- 
riage, belong many of the stories which explain how An- 
drew Jackson made his mark upon the times in which he 
lived and split the country into two sharply separated 
groups — those who admired him blindly and those who 
hated him without stint. 

He had street fights, he had fought at least one duel, 
he had chased Lewis Robards into the cane-brake with a 
butcher knife and had taken unto himself the woman that 
Robards left behind him as he stole from the cane-brake 
and made tracks for his Old Kentucky Home. 

He had saved a town from a fire that would have de- 
stroyed it, by his mastery of men around him and his 
quick decision of forming a bucket brigade. 

He had cowed bullies in the court-room by his readi- 
ness with his pistol. 

He had made himself feared and respected as an hon- 
est, unflinching officer of the law. He had made himself 
the leader of the younger men. What he did was the 
fashion. 

We shall find him always followed by ardent friends 
who are ready to swear by him, work for him, fight for 
him — die with him if need be — with a devotion such as 
few men have ever inspired. 

It must not be supposed, however, that Andrew Jack- 
son never "met his match." It must not be claimed that 
he always came off triumphant. Such is never the case. 

From ''Dropped Stitches in Tennessee History" is 
taken the following story, which proves that even An- 
drew Jackson sometimes tackled the wrong man. The 
episode relates to a horse race which was run while 
Jackson lived at Kit Taylor's, near Jonesboro. 

''Jackson had been training his horse for months in 
advance in 'Kit' Taylor's neighborhood, and the racer 
knew his master's imperious will perfectly. He 'smelt 
the battle afar off,' and perhaps at the same time, 'dan- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 81 

ger in the tainted air;' but when the test came, the de- 
termination to be first under the string thrilled every 
fibre and sinew in his lithe and wiry body. 

**The betting was fast and furious, and the reckless 
readiness of the gamblers, followed the example of the 
contestants, to risk all on their favorite steed, would 
have taken away the breath of even the 'plunger' of to- 
day. Guns, furs, iron, clothing, cattle, horses, negroes, 
crops, lands and all the money procurable were staked 
on the result. No 'boom' period in that section saw so 
much property change hands in so short a time, 

"A week or ten days before the race, Jackson was 
overtaken by a serious disappointment. His jockey, a 
negro boy belonging to Taylor, was taken down with a 
violent fever. Jackson announced his determination to 
ride the race himself, and Love readily agreed to the 
proposition. When the arrangement became known, the 
throng became delirious with enthusiasm and delight. 
The judges, who had been selected after a good deal of 
finesse and some wrangling, were stationed half and half 
at each end of the semi-circular track. Jackson appeared 
on his restless and impatient flyer, with a haughty air of 
confidence and self-possession, the rival steed prancing 
at his side, under the control of a born jockey, who' well 
knew the responsibility resting upon him, and how to act 
his part on the momentous occasion. They were started 
with a shock that shook the azure vault above and rever- 
berated in answering echoes from the surrounding moun- 
tains. The horses were marvels of symmetry and beauty, 
and in fine condition for speed and endurance. At the 
word " Go ! " they shot out on the smooth track as if they 
had been hurled from two monster mortars. On they 
sped, neck and neck. The jockey was the hazy outline of 
a boy printed on the air. Jackson rode as if he were a 
part of his spectral horse. The yells of the onlookers 
packed around the cresent course would have drowned 
the blending screams of a hundred steam-whistles. All 
at once, the Love horse spurted ahead. The partisans of 
Jackson got their breath in gasps. The victor whizzed 



82 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

under the string like an arrow, leaving Old Hickory to 
make the goal at his leisure. If Jackson's horse was a 
wind-splitter that left a blue line behind them, Love's 
was the same as a belated streak of lightning chasing a 
hurricane that had outrun it. Just for a moment there 
was a deep, ominous hush that precedes the crash of the 
tempest; then a pendemonium of noise and tumult that 
might have been heard in the two neighboring states 
broke loose. It awoke the black bear from his siesta, and 
the frightened red deer "sprung from his heathery couch 
in haste," and sought the distant heights. The loud, long 
and deep profanity would have discounted the "army in 
Flanders." Jackson was a star actor in this riot of pas- 
sion and frenzy. His brow was corrugated with wrath. 
His tall, sinewy form shook like an aspen leaf. His face 
was the livid color of the storm-cloud when it is hurling 
its bolts of thunder. His Irish blood was up to the boil- 
ing point, and his eyes flashed with the fire of war. He 
was an overflowing Vesuvius of rage, pouring the hot 
lava of denunciation on the Love family in general and 
his victorious rival in particular. Col. Love stood before 
this storm unblanched and unappalled — for he, too, had 
plenty of "sand," and as lightly esteemed the value of 
life — and answered burning invective with invective, 
hissing with the same degree of heat and exasperation. 
Jackson denounced the Loves as a "band of land pirates," 
because they held the ownership of nearly all the choice 
lands in that section. Love retorted by calling Jackson 
"a damned long, gangling, sorrel-topped soap-stick." 
The exasperating offensiveness of this retort may be bet- 
ter understood when it is explained that in those days 
women "conjured" their soap by stirring it with a long 
sassafras stick. 

The dangerous character of both men was well known, 
and it was ended by interference of mutual friends, who 
led the enraged rivals from the grounds in different 
directions.' ' 

But while Col. Love and perhaps many others stood 
their ground against Jackson, he generally whipped his 
man. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 83 

He himself while President related one of his experi- 
ences as follows: 

"Now, Mr. B.," said the General, "if any one attacks 
you, I know how you'll fight with that big black stick of 
yours. You'll aim right for his head. Well, sir, ten 
chances to one he'll ward it off; and if you do hit him, 
you won't bring him down. No, sir," (taking the stick 
into his own hands), "you hold the stick so, and punch 
him in the stomach, and you'll drop him. I'll tell you 
how I found that out. When I was a young man prac- 
ticing law in Tennessee, there was a big bullying fellow 
that wanted to pick a quarrel with me, and so trod on my 
toes. Supposing it accidental, I said nothing. Soon 
after, he did it again, and I began to suspect his object. 
In a few minutes he came by a third time, pushing against 
me violently, and evidently meaning fight. He was a 
man of immense size, one of the very biggest men I ever 
saw. As quick as a flash, I snatched a small rail from 
the top of the fence, and gave him the point of it full in 
his stomach. Sir, it doubled him up. He fell at my feet, 
and I stamped on him. Soon he got up savage, and was 
about to fly at me like a tiger. The bystanders made as 
though they would interfere. Says I, ' Gentlemen, stand 
back, give me room, that's all I ask, and I'll manage him.' 
With that I stood ready with the rail pointed. He gave 
me one look, and turned away, a whipped man, sir, and 
feeling like one. So, sir, I say to you, if any villain as- 
saults you, give him the pint in his belly. '' 

In those days when every man had to look out for 
himself and be on his guard against the prowling In- 
dians, the brawling borderer, the ravenous land grabber, 
and the lawless rough, it was no common thing for a 
criminal to defy the officers of the law and make the de- 
fiance good. To "cuss out" the lawyers, the judge and 
the jury is a luxury not allowed in our own day no matter 
how strongly one may feel tempted thereto, and no mat- 
ter how richly such a general "cussing out" is deserved. 
But in the early days of Tennessee it was different. It 
sometimes happened that a magistrate would indignantly 



84 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

say to a remonstrant suitor, 'Yon must think the Court 
are a d — d fool!'' and would be greeted with the candid 
response, *'I do!" 

Whereupon, if the magistrate were spunky and con- 
sidered himself the "best man" of the two, he would cry 
out, "Adjourn the court for ten minutes, Mr. Bailiff!" 
and throw off his coat, roll up his sleeves and pitch into 
the ready and willing suitor. Having either whipped his 
man, or got whipped, as the case might be, the judge would 
put on his coat, order the Bailiff to re-open the court and 
would call the next case on the docket. 

It sometimes happened that the two parties to a law 
suit would agree to fight it out, fist and skull. In this 
case the two men would go into a ring and, with a crowd 
of hugely interested spectators looking on, proceed to 
play the brutal drama of a physical combat which would 
probably not end until both fighters were covered with 
bruises and blood, and one or the other gouged, or choked 
or beaten until he could no longer stand. The victor 
would be, of course, the hero of the hour. 

Now it was with just such conditions that young Jack- 
son was peculiarly fitted to cope. With law and order 
his allies, there was never the least doubt that he would 
conquer the turbulent men around him. That he did con- 
quer them completely, the facts conclusively prove. After 
he entered upon his duties as State's Attorney no crim- 
inal ever successfully defied the officers of the law. 

In Sumner County there was a brace of bullies named 
Kirkendall. They defied the Sheriff, and swore that they 
did not intend to be tried. This challenge of the Court's 
authority was made in the little log hut where the Judge 
was presiding. Jackson took charge of the matter and 
the fight was on, at once. In some way the Kirkendall s 
got him out of the house, and rolled him over and over 
until the struggling men all fell into the creek. This freed 
Jackson, who ran back to the house, got his pistols, cov- 
ered the bullies, and thus conquered them. The Judge 
was so appreciative of this vindication of the law that 
the records of Sumner County bear to this day the quaint 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 85 

entry: ''The Court thanks Andrew Jackson for his 
efficient conduct." 

These anecdotes would be quite enough to explain why 
people feared or respected and admired Andrew Jackson, 
but they do not reveal those traits which caused him to be 
loved. We shall understand the devotion of his friends 
before we go much further with this story. For the pres- 
ent, let us read the unvarnished and truthful account of 
an incident which throws a flash-light upon his inborn 
nobility of character. 

In Rogersville, the County Seat of Hawkins County, 
sixty-six miles east of Knoxville, there resided about 

a Presbyterian Scotch-Irish emigrant from the 

north of Ireland by the name of Joseph Rogers. The 
town was named after him. It now has only about one 
thousand inhabitants. In JacksoD 's day it had but three 
or four hundred or less. Rogers kept the only hotel in 
the village. While court was in session the hotel was 
crowded with lawyers, litigants and others. Among the 
guests was Jackson. Hotels in those days had larger 
rooms than now and not so many of them, and it was 
common for several beds to be put in one room. Such was. 
the condition when a well-dressed stranger arrived. He 
was shown to a room with two beds where he had a stran- 
ger for his room-mate. He returned to the office and 
rudely, insultingly demanded a room to himself. After 
the worthy boniface and his worthy wife explained to him 
the situation, told him how crowded the hotel was, he, in 
insulting terms, spoke of the one-horse house and how he 
would tell the public to avoid it, etc. Jackson overheard 
the conversation and at once said to him (he didn't know 
Jackson): "You, sir, shall have a room to yourself." 
This surprised the worthy host and hostess and they be- 
gan to protest that they could not accommodate the gen- 
tleman with a room to himself without turning the other 
people out. Jackson waved them off by an imperious 
gesture with the remark that, ' ' Not now, but at bed-time 
I will see that this man gets a room to himself." The 
stranger walked off satisfied. Jackson had noted a log 



86 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

house in the rear of the hotel used as a corn-crib, with 
open cracks between the logs and this in winter. He 
directed the host to go with him to it. He ordered the 
corn pushed back so there would be room for a pallet. He 
had some bed clothes put on the ground floor and when 
the stranger signified he was ready to retire Jackson 
made the host (against his wish) accompany the stranger 
to his room in the corn-crib with a tallow dip. Jackson 
followed behind after assuring Mr, Rogers that if there 
was any fighting to do as a result he, Jackson, would do 
it. When the fellow got to the door of the crib and saw 
his ''room" he swore he would not go in. Jackson told 
him by the Eternal God he should and forced him in. He 
then turned the key to the padlock and the next morning 
unlocked the door and turned him out, telling him he had 
acted the part of a coward and ruffian and that it should 
admonish him for the future not to be discourteous to a 
lady, as he had been to Mrs. Rogers. 

This story was related to me by Mr. Sam King, of 
Bristol, and also by Mr. John B. Brownlow, of Knoxville. 
It is as well authenticated as any Jackson anecdote in the 
published biographies. 

In that interesting volume, "Old Times in Tennes- 
see," the author. Judge Jos. C. Guild, gives a graphic de- 
scription of one of Andrew Jackson's race-track rows. 
Judge Guild was but a small boy when the incident oc- 
curred. Says he : 

"The occasion was this: Grey Hound, a Kentucky 
horse, had beaten Double Head, a Tennessee horse, and 
they were afterward matched for five thousand dollars a 
side, to be run on the Clover Bottom Course. My uncle, 
Josephus H. Conn — who, by the death of my parents, be- 
came a father to me, giving me such education as I re- 
ceived — carried me on horseback behind him to see the 
race. He set me on the cedar fence and told me to remain 
till he returned. In those days not only counties, but 
States, in full feather, attended the race course as a great 
national amusement, and the same is still kept up in 
France and England under the fostering care of each 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 87 

government. There must have been twenty thousand per- 
sons present. I never witnessed such fierce betting be- 
tween the States. Horses and negroes were put up. A 
large pound was filled with horses and negroes bet on the 
result of this race. The time had now arrived for the 
competitors to appear on the track. I heard some loud 
talking, and looking down the track saw, for the first time. 
General Jackson, riding slowly on a gray horse, with long 
pistols in each hand. I think they were as long as my 
arm, and had a mouth that a ground squirrel could enter. 
In his wake followed my uncle, Conn, Stokely Donelson, 
Patton Anderson, and several others, as fierce as bull 
dogs. As General Jackson led the van and approached 
the judges' stand, he was rapidly talking and gesticulat- 
ing. As he came by me he said that he had irrefragable 
proof that this was to be a jockey race ; that Grey Hound 
was seen in the wheat field the night before, which dis- 
qualified him for the race, and that his rider was to re- 
ceive five hundred dollars to throw it off, and 'by the 
Eternal God,' he would shoot the first man who brought 
his horse upon the track; that the people's money should 
not be stolen from them in this manner. He talked inces- 
santly, while the spittle rolled from his mouth and the 
fire from his eyes. I have seen bears and wolves put at 
bay, but he was certainly the most ferocious looking ani- 
mal that I have ever seen. His appearance and manner 
struck terror into the hearts of twenty thousand people. 
If they felt as I did, every one expected to be slain. He 
announced to the parties if they wanted some lead in their 
hides, to just bring their horses on the track, for 'by the 
Eternal, ' he would kill the first man that attempted to do 
so. There was no response to this challenge, and after 
waiting some time, and they failing to appear. General 
Jackson said it was a great mistake in the opinion of 
some that he acted hastily and without consideration. He 
would give the scoundrels a fair trial, and to that end he 
would constitute a court to investigate this matter, who 
would hear the proof, and do justice to all parties. There- 
upon he appointed a sheriff to keep order, and five judges 



88 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

to hear the case. Proclaraation was made that the court 
was open, and was ready to proceed to business, and for 
the parties to appear and defend themselves. No one ap- 
pearing, General Jackson introduced the witnesses, prov- 
ing the bribery of Grey Hound's rider, who was to receive 
five hundred dollars to throw off the race, having re- 
ceived two hundred and fifty dollars in advance, and that 
Grey Hound had been turned into the wheat field the 
night before. He again called on the parties to appear 
and contradict this proof, and vindicate their innocence. 
They failing to appear. General Jackson told the court 
that the proof was closed, and for them to render their 
judgment in the premises, which, in a few moments, was 
done in accordance with the facts proved. I was still on 
the fence forming one line of the large pound containing 
the property bet on the race. Each man was anxious to 
get back his property. General Jackson waved his hand 
and announced the decision, and said, 'Now, gentlemen, 
go calmly and in order, and each man take his own prop- 
erty. ' When the word was given the people came with a 
rush. It was more terrible than an army with banners. 
They came bulging against the fence, and in the struggle 
to get over they knocked it down for hundreds of yards. 
I was overturned, and was nearly trampled to death. 
Each man got his property, and thus the fraudulent race 
was broken up by an exhibition of the most extraordinary 
courage." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 89 



CHAPTER VII. 

Over the next few years of Andrew Jackson's life we 
may pass rapidly, on our way to the period of his real 
development. Not until the War of 1812 gave him the 
opportunity to show what was in him did he rise above 
the standard of the average leading American pioneer. 
Previous to that decisive step upward, he merely ranked 
with the best of the intrepid frontiersmen among whom 
he lived, ever ready to fight, eager in the buying up of 
choice land, trading extensively at two or three different 
establishments, owning many slaves and using them to 
advantage on his home-farm, successfully breeding fine 
horses and filling with credit, in a perfunctory way, the 
offices which fell to his lot in the meanwhile. 

Andrew Jackson would probably have raised a tre- 
mendous row with anybody who dared to class him among 
chronic office-seekers, and his friends would doubtless 
have rallied around him on that issue, as upon all others 
— drowning the impertinences of fact with the cry of 
• ' Hurrah for Jackson ! ' ' 

Nevertheless, the record shows that Jackson almost 
always held an office. Sometimes he held two. From the 
date of his arrival in Tennessee until that of his retire- 
ment from the Presidency at the end of his second term, 
— declining to run again more on account of broken 
health than because of any squeamishness about a Third 
Term, — we shall find that he was never without an office 
of some kind. 

This is not stated as a reproach to his memory, but as 
a fact material to a sane comprehension of the subject in 
hand. 

The reader will remember that the friend under whom 
Jackson studied law in North Carolina had secured for 
him the presidential appointment to the office of District 
Attorney for the Mero District of Tennessee. This posi- 
tion he filled as long as Tennessee remained a territory. 

In 1795 a census taken for the purpose proved that 
the Territory had a population sufficient to entitle it to 

7 ai 



90 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

admission to the Union as a State; therefore, the Gov- 
ernor ordered the election of delegates to a Convention 
to frame a State Constitution. 

Among the five delegates chosen by the county of 
Davidson were the Judge, John McNairy, and the Dis- 
trict Attorney, Andrew Jackson. 

The convention met in Knoxville, January 11, 1796. 
Two members from each county were appointed to draft 
a Constitution, — the various county delegations being 
given the right to select the county's representative upon 
the Committee. The Davidson county delegation quite 
naturally selected their least illiterate members, — to wit, 
the Judge and the District Attorney, — John McNairy and 
Andrew Jackson. 

The Constitution framed and adopted was at that 
time considered extremely democratic. The Hamilton- 
ians of the country condemned it; the Jeffersonians en- 
dorsed it; yet the discriminations against the Have-nots 
were conspicuous. 

A property qualification was established which re- 
quired that a Governor must own five hundred acres of 
land, and a member of the Legislature two hundred. 
Landowners were given a vote in each county in which 
they owned land. 

A State Government was immediately organized un- 
der this Constitution, John Sevier being elected Gov- 
ernor. 

On the 1st of June, 1796, Tennessee was admitted into 
the Union — the Sixteenth State, — entitled to two Sena- 
tors and one Eepresentative. 

William Blount passed from the territorial office of 
Governor to one of the U. S. Senatorships of the new 
State of Tennessee ; and the District Attorney, whose of- 
fice disappeared with the admission of the territory into 
the Union, was taken care of by being sent to Congress. 
Thus Andrew Jackson became the first Representative of 
Tennessee in the Lower House of Congress. 

The first notable vote of Andrew Jackson in Congress 
was against The Father of his Country. 




Thomas Jefferson 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 91 

The final departure of George Washington from the 
public stage was at hand. He had been more severely 
tried by the years which followed the Kevolutionary War 
than by the war itself. It is one thing to combat one 's 
enemy; it is quite another to contend with one's friends. 
Through both ordeals, fate took George Washington. 

That he was magnificently successful in dealing with 
the complexities of the struggle for independence, devel- ' 
oping a strength that met every demand of that fearful 
period of strain and strife, history proudly proclaims. 

But whether he did equally well as Chief Executive of 
the young Republic will always remain a subject of 
debate. 

To the disciples of the School of Hamilton, the admin- 
istration of Washington seems phenomenally wise, firm 
and patriotic. 

To the Jeffersonians it was, and is, altogether unsat- 
isfactory and in some respects abominable. 

The Jay Treaty was a sell-out of Southern commerce 
and agriculture to Northern navigation and manufactur- 
ers, and the South detested it. 

The Jeffersonians throughout the Union were shocked 
at the cold blooded way in which France, our ally in the 
long, soul-trying years of the war, was thrown over for 
England, our late oppressor and ruthless foe. It re- 
quired all the authority and influence of Washington, re- 
inforced by all the diplomacy of Hamilton and the finan- 
cial resources of the English party, to keep down popular 
resistance to the Federal Administration when it turned 
from the gallant friends who had so recently stood with 
the American soldier in line of battle, and bought, upon 
humiliating terms, a hollow truce with Great Britain. 

The facts soon demonstrated that the Mother Country 
was not yet willing to accept in good faith the results of 
the Revolutionary War. Her pride was ruffled and her 
temper unsubdued. The War of 1812 was nothing in the 
world but the final skirmish of the long struggle for Co- 
lonial Independence. England had to have certain things 
made clear to her before she could gain her own consent 
to let the Colonies go. 



92 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

When our sailors proved themselves a match for 
hers ; when our volunteer militiamen knocked her veteran 
regiments to pieces — then at length she realized that the 
young Republic could stand alone. 

Had President Washington turned a deaf ear to the 
crafty promptings of Alexander Hamilton, France and 
the United States would have remained allies, to the vast 
advantage of each other and of the world. 

Had we kept faith with France — as in honor and com- 
mon gratitude we should have done, — the two young Re- 
publics could have successfully defied the combined 
kings, potentates and aristocracies of Europe. Democ- 
racy would have triumphed, not only in Great Britain 
but throughout Continental Europe. Liberal institutions 
would have replaced feudalism, from the Russian fron- 
tier to the Pyrines. The time was at hand, the people 
ready. It required the utmost efforts of all the kings to 
check the growth of Republican principles. Millions of 
misled soldiers had to be thrown against revolutionary 
France before the onward march of her glorious creed 
of ''Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" could be halted. 

Halted it was — by bayonet and ball. The shouts of 
European Democrats were choked with blood. Priest- 
hoods and aristocracies once more united and prevailed. 
The hands on the clock of progress were turned back 
fifty years. The subdued millions of Europe again 
turned themselves obediently into kissers of the King's 
hand and of the Pope's foot. The priest was heaven's 
authorized broker and he, alone, could arrange, — for a 
consideration, of course, — terms for the admission of the 
penitent sinner into Paradise : the King ruled by Divine 
Right and as Francis of Austria told his college profes- 
sors: "What we want is Obedience." 

Had George Washington heeded Jefferson, rather 
than Hamilton, the history of the world would have been 
different. 

Another measure of Washington's administration 
had deeply dissatisfied the Jeffersonians. This was the 
Hamilton doctrine of Implied Powers. In addition to 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 93 

the authority expressly granted by the States to the Fed- 
eral Government, Hamilton contended that others were 
implied. Under this construction of the Constitution, 
Hamilton had proposed the* establishment of a National 
Bank. Mr. Jefferson and Edmund Randolph, both mem- 
bers of Washington's Cabinet, had strongly combated 
Mr. Hamilton's views, but Washington— a Federalist- 
followed his natural inclinations and sanctioned the 
Bank. 

"Resist the Beginnings," was one of the wise maxims 
of Thomas Jefferson. A far-sighted statesman, he real- 
ized that Hamilton was utilizing Washington's popu- 
larity and power to lay the foundations of an Aristocracy 
of Wealth, supported lof Special Privilege, which would 
at length change the whole nature of our Republic. 

For the same reasons, the Jeffersonians bitterly an- 
tagonized the Funding System of Hamilton which 
brought about a partnership between Northern capital- 
ists and the National Treasury. 

Therefore, when the venerable first President had 
read his last message to Congress, and the customary 
address of Congress in reply was proposed, the movers 
of the latter had great difficulty in securing its passage 
in the language which they preferred. 

The formal address to the retiring President con- 
gratulated him upon his "wise, firm and patriotic admin- 
istration." 

A member from the native State of the President led 
the opposition. 

Hon. Wm. B. Giles, of Vir.ginia, objected to these flat- 
tering expressions. In the opinion of Mr. Giles, the ad- 
ministration of General Washington had been neither 
wise nor firm. 

"I believe, sir, that a want of wisdom and firmness 
has brought this country into its present alarming 
crisis," said the Representative from Virginia. 

The alarming crisis referred to by Mr. Giles was the 
threatened war with France, and the disordered finances 
consequent upon the issues of paper money by the bank. 



94 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

After a long and heated discussion, the Address was 
adopted by a vote of sixty-seven to twelve. 

Among the twelve who went on record against it were 
Wm. B. Giles, Edward Livingston, Nathaniel Macon and 
Andrew Jackson. 

Another vote of the sole Representative of Tennessee 
in the Lower House of Congress proves how impartial 
were the Jeffersonians of that day. 

The city of Savannah, Georgia, having been almost 
entirely destroyed by fire, Congress was appealed to for 
an appropriation out of the National Treasury for the 
relief of the stricken people ; Congress refused, — rightly. 
Among the votes recorded against the proposition to take 
public funds for charitable purposes was that of Andrew 
Jackson. 

How differently does Congress construe the Consti- 
tution these latter days' 

There was an earthquake, a few years ago, in the 
French island of Martinique, and the eruption of a 
volcano. 

With spasmodic and hysterical speed, the Congress 

of the United States rushed an appropriation through 

both Houses, and the "relief" was hurried, in fast-going 

vessels, to Martinique. The French Government itself 

: did not appropriate a franc, and when the American ves- 

I sel drew alongside the wharf in Martinique, the first 

V_ native who came aboard offered food for sale' 

Something practically similar happened in 1906 when 
our charity thrust itself upon the English colony of 
Jamaica. We spent some thousands dollars relieving 
distress in Jamaica, the English Government did not 
spend a penny! 

Later still, during the second administration of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt, Congress appropriated $800,000 to re- 
lieve Italians who had been rendered homeless by the 
earthquakes of Sicily. Several thousands cottages were 
framed in New York, were transported across the ocean 
by our Navy, and were erected in Sicily by our marines 
— the Italians refusing to assist in the work. 




John Sevier 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 95 

The people of Tennessee bore a grudge against the 
administration of Washington because the Federal Gov- 
ernment had never lifted a finger to protect them from 
the Indians. 

President Washington sent troops to protect the 
Northwest, but left the Southwest to protect itself. 

Thus it happened that in 1793 the Tennesseans, led 
by John Sevier, took the initiative against the Red Men 
who were alleged to be committing outrages. After a 
bloody campaign, the Indians were driven back and 
brought to terms. 

The U. S. Government had not authorized the war, 
and refused to pay the expenses. Andrew Jackson took 
hold of this claim for compensation, brought the facts 
before Congress, and succeeded in having these war- 
expenses paid. 

The sum was only twenty thousand eight hundred and 
sixteen dollars, but specie was scarce in the backwoods in 
those days, and the influx of that amount of hard cash in 
Tennessee was warmly appreciated. The popularity of 
Jackson, we are assured, was greatly increased by his 
management of the case. 

Strange to' say, Jackson did not attend the next ses- 
sion of Congresa at all. During the summer of 1797, a 
most important session was held — the French quarrel 
becoming a menace of war — but the sole Representative 
of Tennessee did not put in appearance. 

However, his own people found no fault with him, ap- 
parently, for during this year he was appointed Senator 
from Tennessee to fill a vacancy. 

In the autumn of 1797, he is once more in Philadel- 
phia, a member of the Senate. He remained there until 
April, 1798, when he went back to Tennessee and re- 
signed. 

The Legislature almost immediately elected him 
Judge of the Supreme Court. 

Just as we have but a meagre record of Jackson's 
doings while a member of Congress, so we have no au- 
thentic account of him as Supreme Court Judge. 



96 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Once upon a time when one in authority proposed to 
appoint to judicial position a man of fine natural sense 
but of no knowledge of the written law, the latter pleaded 
his own unfitness for the place. He was answered, 
'' Decide every case according to your own ideas of jus- 
tice, and give no reasons." 

The appointment was accepted, the advice followed, 
and satisfactory results given. 

Andrew Jackson, a man of fine common sense, may 
have acted upon the same principles. No decision of his 
has been produced. 

Anecdote represents him as at one time quitting the 
bench and adjourning court, temporarily, to assist the 
Sheriff in arresting an obstreperous law-breaker. Of 
course, the bully wilted the moment he looked into the 
Jacksonian eye, and into the muzzles of the ever-ready 
Jacksonian pistols. 

In 1801, while still on the Supreme Bench, Jackson 
was a candidate for major generalship of the militia. 
His opponent was John Sevier, the famous Indian fighter 
who had come off victorious in thirty-five combats with 
the Red Men. Although fifty years of age, he was still 
the handsomest man in Tennessee, and was easily the 
most popular with the people at large. 

Unluckily for Sevier, the men of the rank and file had 
no voice in the selection of the major general. The 
field-officers were the electors. Between him and Andrew 
Jackson there was a tie vote among these officers. 

In this emergency. Governor Roane came to the relief 
and cast the deciding vote for Jackson. 

Sevier was wounded to the quick by this rejection of 
himself — who had so long served the people in actual 
border warfare — in favor of a young lawyer who had 
never been in a battle, and had never even accompanied 
an expedition against the common enemy. 

The veteran's mortification was natural, and we can- 
not fail to sympathize with it. Jackson had at that time 
given no evidence of his ability as a military man, and 
the selection of the untried lawyer and judge over the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 97 

tried soldier who was in the very prime of life seemed a 
gross injustice. 

The people of Tennessee evidently felt this way 
about it for, at the next election, Governor Roane was 
thrown out and the gallant John Sevier was elected 
Governor. 

It was almost inevitable that Judge-General Jackson 
and Governor Sevier would have candid friends and 
Ransy Sniffle go-betweens who would never be satisfied 
until the two big men had been made to fight. 

Furious quarrels there were in which the Governor 
menaced the Judge and the Judge threatened the Gov- 
ernor, but the actual collision never took place. No sane 
man can question the courage of either party to the feud, 
and one's chief feeling is that of regret that two such 
essentially sound-hearted heroes could not have been 
friends. 

Sevier had always kept open house, had spent much 
of his time and resources in raids against the Indians, 
and was a poor man. Jackson owned tens of thousands 
of acres of fine land, was conducting profitable trading 
ventures, and was holding an office which, excepting the 
Governorship, was the best paying place in the State. 

To run for another office while holding that, seems 
somewhat selfish and grasping. To run for it against one 
who deserved so well of Tennessee as did John Sevier, 
certainly proves that Jackson set his own ambition far 
above anything like a chivalrous regard for others. 

''What has this lawyer done that he should be put 
before me? Did I not ride at the head of the volunteer 
cavalry of the mountains when they crushed Ferguson in 
the turning-point battle of the Revolutionary War ? Was 
it not the Indian yell of the men who followed me that 
unnerved the British more than the whistle of the balls? 
Did we not rescue North Carolina on that fateful day 
when this North Carolina boy, Andrew Jackson, was still 
in his mother's leading strings? I don't know of any- 
thing particular that he has done except to run away 
with another man's wife." 



98 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

So', in the bitterness of his heart, John Sevier may- 
have spoken ; and the latter portion of the outburst hav- 
ing been related to Andrew Jackson, fierce wrangles fol- 
lowed which did neither of them credit. 

Tennessee elected Sevier once more to the Governor- 
ship, and President Adams intended to make him one of 
the Brigadier-Generals if war should come with France ; 
but at the end of his gubernatorial term he sinks from 
historical view, dies while running the line of another 
Indian ''Concession," and thus the student of those old 
times sees no more of one of the most fascinating person- 
ages that ever appeared in American border life. 

While holding the two offices of Supreme Court Judge 
and Major-General of militia, Andrew Jackson sought 
presidential appointment to the position of Governor of 
the recently purchased Louisiana Territory. In April, 
1804, we find the energetic Judge-Major-General in 
Washington giving his personal attention to the matter. 

But President Jefferson is at Monticello, sorely 
afflicted by the death of his beloved daughter, Mrs. John 
W. Eppes, and Jackson does not call at the White House 
at all, lest the call should be "construed as the call of a 
Courteor." 

Writing to his friend Geo. W. Campbell, Jackson nails 
his Democratic flag to the mast as follows, "Of all char- 
acters on earth my feelings despise a man capable of 
cringing to power for a benefit or office — and such char- 
acters that are capable of bending for the sake of an 
office are badly calculated for a representative system, 
when merit alone should lead to preferment — these being 
my sensations — and believing that a call upon him (the 
President) under the present existing circumstances 
might be construed as the act of a courteor, I traveled on 
enjoying my own feelings." 

A thoroughly Jacksonian deliverance! Holding two 
offices, reaching out for a better one, and finding that 
President Jefferson has virtually given the place to 
another, the stern Democrat from Tennessee, who had 
gone to Washington to apply for the appointment, wraps 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 99 

the mantle of personal independence about Mm, and 
refuses to make a formal call at the Executive Mansion, 
for fear that this mark of respect paid to the Chief 
Magistrate should cause Andrew Jackson to be called "a 
courteor." 

While occupying a seat on the bench of the Supreme 
Court, the repeated affrays with Governor Sevier, the 
quarrel with his old friend Judge McNairy, and sonae 
business troubles which were the consequence of his 
astonishing ignorance of law, must have tried Jackson's 
fortitude severely. 

He was the aggressor in the feud with Sevier ; he was 
at fault in the quarrel with McNairy, and he had nobody 
but himself to blame for dealing in land-titles which any 
lawyer should have known were void. 

Andrew Jackson was one of the shrewdest of traders 
and was a successful man of affairs ; by profession, he 
was a lawyer ; by election, he was a judge of the Supreme 
Court. Yet he missed utter ruin by the skin of his teeth 
because he treated as valid the title to land sold at legal 
sale under foreclosure of a mortgage when the court had 
no jurisdiction of the case ! 

It was a striking evidence of Jackson's sound com- 
mon sense that when he found himself in this desperate 
plight, he sought the advice of a real lawyer. By follow- 
ing the advice given him by his lawyer, he managed to 
weather the storm. 

In the conduct of his business affairs, Jackson became 
involved in a considerable amount of litigation, as one 
would naturally suppose. Dogmatic in his opinions, 
uncompromising and somewhat overbearing, an occa- 
sional lawsuit with some other unyielding fellow-mortal 
sprang up, giving him more or less trouble. In these 
legal battles the day went against him, now and then. 

It appears that he gave his personal attention to his 
commercial ventures, and that when keeping store at 
Clover Bottom he rode over there every morning, and 
stayed all day. Mrs. Jackson superintended the farm 
while the General was away. 

In Philadelphia, where most of his supplies for his 



100 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

stores were purchased, Jackson established the highest 
character for square dealing. His credit was first-class. 
It was known that he would sacrifice all he possessed 
rather than forfeit his bond or disholior his note. His 
pride, his keen sense of honor made it impossible for him 
to rest under the slightest cloud of deserved discredit. 
Undoubtedly, he was one of those men to whom life is 
worth nothing unless he can feel that he has the right to 
look the whole world in the face, and to bear himself as 
the equal of any other man whomsoever. 

But Andrew Jackson was not the man to shine "in 
the piping time o' peace.'' The clash of battle was neces- 
sary to rouse him to his best. There was a craving for 
excitement, a love of strife for the sake of strife, which 
he could not more help than he could help being red- 
headed and blue-eyed. 

Turbulence was his element, and turbulence of some 
kind he must have. If it wasn't to be had otherwise, he 
wotild create it. 

The race-track had its fascination for him, simply 
because it represented superb action, spirited contest, 
tumultuous crowds of excited people, sustained exhilara- 
tion, and the ever-present possibility of a free-for-all 
fight. 

The matching of game-chickens was a pastime which 
also brought him forward, keen for the contest, keen for 
victory. Just as he bred race-horses and ran them for 
big stakes against all comers, so he ''raised" game chick- 
ens and was their eager backer where they fought until 
they stabbed their antagonists to death with cruel gaffs, 
and were themselves stabbed to death. He would gather 
up his best roosters, put out for Nashville, take two or 
three drinks of whiskey and pit his own cocks against 
those of his friend, Patten Anderson, or those of any 
other citizen whom he considered a gentleman. 

He would join in the savage sports as though his 
whole soul was in them — as indeed, it was, for the time. 
He would not only enjoy the rough revel vastly, but 
would lead it. No man shouted more loudly as the game 
cocks were pitted for moi*tal combat. No man so eagerly 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 101 

followed every cut and thrust of the long keen knives 
that had been corded on to the roosters' spurs. 

While his feathered favorites fought in the ring, he 
cheered on his "Bernadotte" or his "Dominica," as he 
afterwards cheered o^ the riflemen of the backwoods at 
Talladega and New Orleans. 

Noisy, profane, dominant, a born king of men, An- 
drew Jackson was the same, in all essential respects, 
when betting on and managing a cocking-main in Nash- 
ville, when bossing the race-course at Clover Bottom, 
when storming at and "running over" John Sevier, and 
when breaking forever the power of the Creek Nation. 

But Jackson drew the line sharply between "gentle- 
men gamblers" and professional blacklegs. With these 
latter he would have nothing to do. 

Once, in the excitement of a horse-race, Jackson's 
strident voice was heard ringing out the challenge: 

"I will bet any gentleman fifty dollars on the white 
mare. ' ' 

"I take the bet, General,'' cried a well-known gam- 
bler. 

Without noticing him, Jacksoli's challenge rang out 
again. 

"Why, General, I took that bet," urged the gambler. 

Without a change of feature, but with that steady 
look which must have been a nerve-test, Jackson ex- 
claimed : 

"I said 'any gentleman,' sir; and I do not recognize 
you as a gentleman!" 

The black-leg was wise in his generation, and let the 
matter go at that. 



Out of a horse-race wrangle, and nothing else, arose 
that wretched duel with Charles Dickinson, which sent a 
bright young lawyer to an untimely grave, widowed a 
lovely, devoted wife, and gave to Jackson himself a world 
of after trouble, besides a wound which finally hastened 
his death. 

With some care, I have studied what evidence is now 



102 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

attainable concerning this deplorable episode in Jackson's 
career; and without hesitation I reject, as lacking in the 
support of a scintilla of evidence, the statement that 
Dickinson had made offensive allusions to Jackson's wife. 

There is no testimony of that sort. The correspond- 
ence which brought on the tragedy is as open to the 
world as that which led to Burr's killing of Hamilton. 
Absolutely there is no mystery in the case, and no room 
for doubt. The duel grew out of a horse-race quarrel, 
and out of nothing else. Jackson himself was too proud 
and brave a man to tell lies against the dead, and never 
by word, or deed, or intimation did he accuse Dickinson 
of speaking disrespectfully of Mrs. Jackson. 

Many years later, when Jackson's coterie of personal 
worshippers had undertaken, against his first inclina- 
tions, to elect him President of the United States, it be- 
came necessary to make a better showing for him in the 
matter of Dickinson's death than could be found in the 
contemporaneous correspondence. It was then that the 
story was put forward by Sam Houston and others to the 
effect that they ''had been told" that Dickinson spoke 
offensive words of Mrs. Jackson, not only once but re- 
peatedly; and that Jackson mildly remonstrated with 
Dickinson, not only in person, but through conciliatory 
messages, doing his utmost to avoid strife. Think of 
Andrew Jackson making such pathetic efforts to keep 
the peace, when an insolent young lawyer ''in a tavern in 
Nashville" had publicly and repeatedly "uttered offen- 
sive words respecting Mrs. Jackson ! '' 

One simply cannot believe anything of the kind. The 
statement is too much at variance with Jackson's known 
character and constant line of conduct. Besides, why the 
necessity of seeking hidden motives, when the evidence 
furnished by the correspondence itself proves conclu- 
sively that no hidden motive was wanting? The letters 
which passed, and the circumstances which led up to the 
correspondence; reveal the truth with absolute clearness. 
In the next chapter will be given the plain, simple 
story of the celebrated duel — a story founded upon a 
careful examination of such evidence as we can now find. 




Sam Houston 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 103 



CHAPTER VIII. 

''Foe the autumn races of 1805," says Biographer 
Parton, " a great race was arranged between General 
Jackson's Truxton and Captain Joseph Ervin's Plow 
Boy. The stakes were two thousand dollars, payable on 
the day of the race in notes, which notes were to be then 
due; forfeit eight hundred dollars." 

Patton Anderson had an interest in the race, on the 
Jackson side, and Charles Dickinson was interested on 
the side of his father-in-law, Capt. Ervin. 

Before the day set for the race, Capt. Ervin and his 
son-in-law, Charles Dickinson, decided to call off the race 
and pay the forfeit. This was done, and everything 
seemed to have been adjusted without ill feeling. Very 
soon, however, Captain Ervin and Dickinson heard of a 
rumor to the effect that the notes in which the forfeit was 
paid were claimed by Jackson to have been different 
from those stipulated in the bet. Such a report was cer- 
tainly of a character to deserve notice. Neither Capt. 
Ervin nor Dickinson could afford to treat it with indif- 
ference. 

There seems to be no denial of the fact that Patton 
Anderson, a party to the bet and a well-known close 
friend of Jackson, made the statement that the notes 
were different. This he did in the presence of Thomas 
Swann, Samuel Jackson and others. 

Samuel Jackson carried the story to Charles Dickin- 
son, naming Swann as one of those who were present 
when Anderson's statement was made. Dickinson called 
upon Swann for confirmation, and got it. 

There seems to be no denial of the fact that a few 
days after this, Swann saw Gen. Jackson at his own store, 
and asked him about the notes. 

Gen. Jackson, according to Swann, answered that 
Dickinson's notes were the same as those designated in 
the terms of the race, but that the notes offered by Capt. 
Ervin were different, in that they were not due. 



104 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Now the first thought which occurs to the impartial 
reader, is this : whatever difference there may have been 
between the notes staked and those tendered should have 
been pointed out by Jackson at the time they were of- 
fered; and after he had accepted satisfaction, he should 
have said nothing more about it. 

It is quite apparent that he did say something to his 
friend, Patton Anderson, about a difference in the notes 
— and the tragedy of Dickinson's death grew out of An- 
derson's repeating what Jackson said. 

The next step in the tragedy is the conversation be- 
tween Gapt. Ervin and Swann, in which Swann relates 
what Anderson had said and also what Jackson had 
stated. Capt. Ervin denied that any change had been 
made in the notes, and went into details to prove his 
contention. 

A few days later, there was a meeting of Gen. Jack- 
son, Capt. Ervin and Charles Dickinson in Nashville, and 
the matter of the notes was under discussion. In this 
conversation, it would seem that Jackson characterized 
as *'a damned liar" the author of the report that the 
notes in question were different from those which he had 
agreed to receive. 

This meeting was on Dec. 28, 1805, and Dickinson 
soon repeated to Swann what Jackson said. On Jan. 3, 
1806, we find Swann writing to the General, quoting the 
words, "a damned liar," and seeming, in good faith, to 
take the words to himself. Considered coolly today, the 
note of Thomas Swann to Andrew Jackson does not 
appear extraordinary. 

The reply of Gen. Jackson to the note of Thomas 
Swann is an epistolary curiosity. 

Once upon a time, many years later, when the foxy 
Van Buren wrote his old Chief a letter that was meant to 
mystify. President Jackson, after puzzling over the mis- 
sive till his meager store of patience was exhausted, 
burst out: "I can't make heads or tails of it, and — by the 
Lord! — I don't believe Van Buren himself can!" 

Something like the same feeling comes over me as I 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 105 

ponder upon the fateful missive which made the Dickin- 
son duel inevitable ! 

Jackson's reply to Swann is dated Jan. 7th, 1806. It 
is written from the Hermitage. In its broken sentences, 
its abrupt changes, its violent wrenchings of Swann 's 
meaning, its intolerably scornful allusions to Swann him- 
self, and its irrelevant, unprovoked and most insulting 
reference to Dickinson, Jackson's fury is manifest. 

Boiling with passion, he wrote a letter which seems to 
have been totally uncalled for, out of all reasonable lati- 
tude of self-defense, and full of provocation to a third 
party — Dickinson. 

Let us see : Thomas Swann had heard Patton Ander- 
son 's statement about the notes. He had not carried that 
statement to Dickinson, but when asked to verify the fact 
that Anderson had made it, did so. 

Further, he had conversed with General Jackson in 
the latter 's store at Clover Bottom, and the General had, 
in part at least, supported the statement of Ander- 
son. Then when Capt. Ervin had made inquiries con- 
cerning the rumor about the notes, Swann had related 
what he had understood Jackson to say at the store. 

Then comes the interview in Nashville between Cap- 
tain Ervin and Charles Dickinson, on the one part, and 
Andrew Jackson on the other. 

In this conversation General Jackson must have de- 
nounced the author of the report concerning the notes as 
"a damned liar," for he practically admits as much in 
his reply to Swann, dated March 7th, 1806. 

General Jackson's reply to Swann, closely read, not 
only shows that he denounced the author of the report in 
question, but that he meant the denunciation for Thomas 
Swann. True, he denies the use of the exact words 
quoted by Swann, but there can be no question that Jack- 
son had made such a disclaimer as satisfied both Captain 
Ervin and Dickinson, nor is there any doubt that he had 
harshly characterized the author of the report. 

General Jackson found fault with Dickinson for not 
quoting him correctly, but he himself did not state what 

8 a j 



106 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the correct language was. But General Jackson's cMef 
grievance against Dickinson was that he did not imme- 
diately report to Swann — then in the same tavern — what 
Jackson had said, in order that an "explanation" might 
have taken place! 

Says the angry Jackson, in this fatal note : 

"There are certain traits that always accompany the 
gentleman and the man of truth. The moment he hears 
harsh expressions applied to a friend, he will immedi- 
ately communicate it, that explanation may take place; 
when the base poltroon and cowardly tale-bearer will al- 
ways act in the back-ground. You can apply the latter 
to Mr. Dickinson and see which best fits him. 

"I write it for his eye, and the latter I intend em- 
phatically for him. 

"When the corversation dropt between Mr. Dickinson 
and myself, I thought it was at an end. As he wishes to 
blow the coal, I am ready to light it to a blaze. ' ' 

Here, surely, was no pacific effort to keep down 
strife ! 

Here was nothing lacking, if the intent was to give 
insufferable affront. 

What had Dickinson done? 

He had told Swann that Jackson had denied the re- 
ported statement about the notes and had denounced the 
author as a liar. 

That Jackson had made a disclaimer which satisfied 
both Ervin and Dickinson, is clear froto his own letter: 
that he had spoken harshly of the author of the report, 
he admitted. But he was furious because Dickinson had 
not reported his words correctly; because he had not 
gone immediately to' his friend, Swann, and brought him, 
then, to confront Jackson, and because in relating the 
matter, subsequently, he had acted the base poltroon and 
cowardly tale-bearer. 

Lest Swann might by any chance head off a fight by 
keeping Jackson's passionate letter to himself, he is par- 
ticularly requested by the General to show the letter to 
Dickinson, and to tell him that the most unpardonably 
insulting lines in it are intended for his especial benefit. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 107 

And yet the ludicrously credulous Jacksonian biog- 
rapher, James Parton, solemnly brings forward Sam 
Houston to declare to posterity that, "I was told,'' Jack- 
son, — the conciliatory and pacific, — bore with the ag- 
gressive Dickinson until patience had become a burden to 
the flesh; and that after the most humane and consider- 
ate efforts to persuade Dickinson to quit villifying his 
wife, in public taverns, Jackson was reluctantly forced 
into the duel! 

In response to the letter of General Jackson, the 
youthful Swann, — a foolish fellow evidently — sent the 
General a formal challenge which was ignored. The next 
time Jackson met Swann, he struck his challenger with 
his cane, and then clapped his hand upon his pistol. 
Friends caught hold of both parties, there was no further 
blow, — and Thomas Sw?nn drops out of history. He was 
a weakling, probably a coward, but General Jackson was 
certainly wrong when he took up the idea that Swann was 
a tool being used by Dickinson to make trouble for 
Jackson. 

When Dickinson was shown the letter of General 
Jackson, he addressed him a note which was moderate, 
sarcastic and hard to answer. 

The General was again reminded that his friend 
Anderson had started the report about the notes, and 
that Swann 's name had only been mentioned when Dick- 
inson had told the General that there was ^'another 
witness." 

"Who is it?" the General had asked. 

''Bring him forward!" demanded the General. 

*'No : that would look like throwing the burden off my 
shoulders on to him : ' ' — a manly reply ! 

Dickinson offered to prove by Captain Ervin and 
Samuel Jackson that General Jackson did denounce the 
author of the report as "a damned liar." 

Then he asks this question, which i-s a clincher: 

"Why should you have wished to have Mr. Swann 
called, had you not denied what he asserted?" 

Then Dickinson adds, very forcibly, it seems to the 
present writer: 



108 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

''And you pretend to call a man a tale-bearer for tell- 
ing that wliieh is truth and can be proved." 

Thankless is the task of the historian. Dispassionate 
and careful, he often sees clearly the awful blunders 
which were hidden to the living men who strutted their 
brief hour upon the stage and then passed onward into 
the night — into which the historian soon follows. 

General Andrew Jackson took up the notion that two 
young, educated lawyers, one of them rich, handsome, 
accomplished and well connected, were "making game 
of him,'' and that Dickinson, the more important of the 
two, was egging Thomas Swann on to badger him, Jack- 
son. This idea once in Jackson 's head, could not get out. 
He believed it then, and believed it to his dying hour ; yet 
nothing is more certain than that he was laboring 
throughout under a terrible mistake. 

The dispassionate reader can see at a glance that the 
whole dispute, at the latter stage where Dickinson and 
Jackson clashed, hinged upon this issue: — 

Whether in his conversation with Ervin and Dickin- 
son, the General had denounced as false the reported 
statement of Thomas Swann. 

Dickinson's question went straight to the bull's-eye: 

''Why should you have wished to have Mr. Swann 
called, had you not denied what he asserted?" 

Remember reader, — Jackson himself says in his let- 
ter to Swann that he had asked Dickinson to call him in, 
and that Dickinson declined to do so. 

Therefore, Dickinson's question was a clincher. 
Jackson could not answer it, nor could any one else 
answer it, in a way that condemns Dickinson and acquits 
Jackson. 

Immediately after the sending of his letter, Dickin- 
son went, by flat-boat, to New Orleans, and while he was 
absent the feud thickened. General Jackson prepared a 
very lengthy and labored newspaper article in reply to 
Thomas Swann ; and the reading of it causes the impar- 
tial critic to soliloquise, "Happily for Jackson, his aim 
with a pistol was better than with a pen!" 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 109 

The simple truth is that he does not appear to advan- 
tage in this controversy with Swann and Dickinson. He 
quibbles, he splits hairs, he muddies the water, he blus- 
ters and abuses, — he does everything rather than meet 
the issue. 

The General publishes as a part of his communica- 
tion, an affidavit of John Hutchins. Carefully analyzed, 
this affidavit proves that Jackson's friend, Patton An- 
derson, had originated the report about the Ervin notes ; 
that Anderson, on hearing Jackson's full explanation at 
his store, had admitted that he had taken up a mistaken 
idea about the matter ; and that Thomas Swann had told 
the literal truth when he said that Jackson claimed that 
Captain Ervin had offered notes different from those 
stipulated. 

James Parton, Jacksonian biographer, actually fur- 
nishes the evidence which excuses Patton Anderson, with- 
out seeming to be conscious of what he has done, — one 
instance out of many that might be cited where the hasty 
author did not digest his own materials. ^ 

According to the Hutchings affidavit, which General 
Jackson obtained for his own exoneration, Captain 
Ervin was accused by Jackson of the very thing reported 
by Anderson. He offered in payment of the forfeit, 
notes that were not due, and Jackson refused to receive 
them. Captain Ervin contended that the notes offered 
were the same as those listed on the schedule shown at 
Nashville. Jackson asked to see the list. Ervin felt in 
his pockets for it, but did not find it. He then said that 
Dickinson had the notes and schedule. Dickinson was 
called in, produced the notes and schedule, and the mat- 
ter was settled to the satisfaction of all concerned. 

Now, it is easy to understand how this transaction 
about the notes could have been misunderstood and mis- 
repsesented. Jackson himself brings John Hutchings 
forward to swear to the very thing that Swann had re- 
ported — the refusal of Jackson to accept notes which he 
claimed to be different from those staked. 

Then Jackson himself, as set forth in the Hutchings 



110 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

affidavit, explains the settlement of the matter precisely 
as Swann reports Captain Ervin to have explained it — 
to-wit, Jackson was given the notes originally staked, ex- 
cepting one on Robert Thompson, for which Ervin gave 
his own order on King & Carson. 

How natural it was for some exasperation to grow 
ont of this little affair! Jackson making the point on 
the difference in the notes : Ervin appealing to the Nash- 
ville schedule : Jackson demanding the production of the 
paper: Ervin vainly going through his pockets to find 
it : Dickinson being called in and producing the schedule, 
and Jackson being shown to have been wrong! 

Yet the substitution of Ervin 's own note for that of 
Robert Thompson — a substitution which benefitted the 
holder of the note — gave some color to the original Pat- 
ton Anderson statement that different notes had been 
offered. 

A most unlucky muddle about a mighty small matter, 
— and yet what an awful tragedy grew out of it! Con- 
tinuing his lamentable publication, General Jackson fol- 
lows up the Hutchings affidavit with a long statement 
from his faithful friend, John Coffee. 

The faithful John relates the circumstances leading 
up to the blow which Jackson struck poor Swann. At 
this point enters upon the scene Nathaniel McNairy, who 
seemed inclined to take the part of the luckless Swann, 
whose challenge to honorable combat had been ignored, 
and who, in a public tavern, had been ignominiously hit 
with a stick. 

In the most gallant spirit. General Jackson yielded so 
far as to the remonstrances of McNairy as to authorize 
that gentleman to say to his friend, Swann, that while 
the General would not degrade himself by accepting 
Swann 's challenge, he would accommodate him to this 
extent: he would ride with Swann anywhere, on any 
ground he would name : he would meet Swann in any se- 
questered grove he would point out. 

Much more to the same effect is stated with tedious 
particularity by the faithful John Coffee. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. Ill 

General Jackson's handsome and liberal offer to 
"ride with'' Swann to some "sequestered grove," seems 
not to have tempted that young gentleman in the least. 
He digested his caning as best he could and, so far as I 
know, enjoyed life just as well ever after. 

It would seem that Thomas Swann had treated 
Samuel Jackson "very rascally." 

Item: In the course of a conversation between 
Thomas and Samuel, the former had voluntarily stated 
that in case the latter should need some money, the for- 
mer could lend him some. With prophetic accuracy, 
Samuel Jackson then and there informed Thomas Swann 
that it was possible he, Samuel, might want to borrow 
$100 before long. 

Sure enough, on the very next day, Samuel Jackson 
did want to borrow the identical sum of $100, and he ap- 
plied to Thomas Swann for it. Whereupon, the elusive 
Thomas declared that he had loaned the money out. 

Now, it is almost incredible, but literally true, that 
General Jackson, who spent nearly two weeks in the 
preparation of his article, went out and got two affi- 
davits setting forth the facts concerning this affair.. 
Eobert Hays and Robert Butler are lugged in by the 
ears to prove that they heard Samuel Jackson say that 
Thomas Swann had acted "very rascally" with him in 
not lending him the $100 after voluntarily saying the day 
before that he would do so. 

Think of Andrew Jackson stooping to pin-hook fish- 
ing of this sort! It must be confessed that the General 
cuts a very sorry figure in this controversy, — so long as 
it remained in the pen and ink stage of development. 

Next in order. General Jackson produces a statement 
signed by Robert Purdy. This statement of Purdy being 
brief and racy of the soil, is given in Purdy 's own lan- 
guage : 

"Some time since, Mr. Thomas Swann and myself 
had a conversation about Mr. Samuel Jackson. Mr. 
Swann asked me if I did not suppose Mr. Jackson was 
one of the damndest rascals on earth, and observed that 
he, Jackson, was a damned rascal." 



112 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Who could have supposed that the mind which was 
brewing such miserable pottage as the foregoing had 
also the capacity to expand into greatness? 

Of what consequence was it to prove that Samuel 
Jackson spoke of Thomas Swann as a rascal, and that 
Thomas Swann spoke of Samuel Jackson as "one of the 
damndest rascals on earth I" 

What did that have to do with it? 

The real issue was — did Jackson denounce Swann to 
Ervin and Dickinson as ''a damned liar," or in some 
equivalent terms, and had Swann, in fact, told any lie 
about those disputed notes? 

That was the real issue, and General Andrew Jackson 
did everything else but meet it. 

He muddied the water very successfully at the time; 
he shot his way out of the embarrassing position in which 
he had involved himself; but, to anyone who knows how 
to sift and analyze testimony, the facts are plain enough. 

Continuing at great length, General Jackson heaps 
scorn and ridicule upon Nathaniel McNairy who, as we 
have seen, showed some disposition to oppose Jackson's 
brutal treatment of Swann. The General virtually calls 
McNairy a liar and a coward. 

But the worst is kept for Dickinson. In so many 
words, the General says that he is a "worthless, drunken, 
blackguard scoundrel." 

Pursuing a false and fatal notion to which allusion 
has already been made, Jackson says of Swann, ' ' He has 
acted the puppet and lying valet'' for Charles Dickinson. 

"He has impertinently and inconsistently obtruded 
himself" into a dispute that did not concern him. Gen- 
eral Jackson believed this, else he would would not have 
said it, but he was utterly mistaken. Swann had not 
thrust himself into the dispute about the notes, but had 
only borne testimony, when called upon by Dickinson, to 
what Patton Anderson had said. 

Nor had he acted as anybody's puppet. When he was 
told by Dickinson that Jackson had denounced him as a 
liar, he had most naturally written to General Jackson 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 113 

about it, upon his own motion. The longest affidavit 
produced by General Jackson was that of the faithful 
John Coffee. 

Few men have had such a strong, loyal, enduring 
friend as Andrew Jackson had in John Coffee, his part- 
ner in business, his backer on the race-track, his backer 
in street fights, his ablest lieutenant on the field of battle. 

In this Dickinson controversy, the faithful Coffee was 
on hand, of course, testifying in the most favorable man- 
ner possible for his partner and friend, Jackson. In the 
certificate of Coffee, Jackson's crown of glory is ad- 
justed with the nicest sense of propriety. In the certifi- 
cate of Coffee, Jackson first canes young Thomas Swann, 
and then lectures him in a paternal and encouraging 
manner, which is edifying in the highest degree. In the 
certificate of Coffee, it is not easy to decide which is the 
greater shuffler and coward, Swann or McNairy. 

When General Jackson's article appeared in the 
newspaper, carrying along with it that rare mosaic, the 
John Coffee certificate, McNairy went into action with 
much promptitude. He "came out in a card" which 
blistered both Jackson and Coffee. 

For reasons not difficult to guess, Jackson took no 
notice of McNairy 's card. Jackson was waiting for Dick- 
inson; Partner John Coffee must take care of McNairy. 

The loyal and gallant Coffee did not hesitate an in- 
stant. He challenged McNairy; they met "on the field 
of honor, ' ' and Coffee was severely wounded in the thigh. 

McNairy had fired too quickly, before the word was 
given. He had done the same thing once before in a duel. 
It seems to have been an exasperating habit of his. 

To repair his fault, as far as was in his power, Mc- 
Nairy offered to stand up, unarmed, and give Coffee a 
shot at him. This offer was declined, and so the matter 
ended between these two. 

But Jackson's wrath must have burned the more 
fiercely because of this worsting of his friend and part- 
ner. Coffee, by McNairy, the friend of Swann and 
Dickinson. 



114 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

It was not until after the middle of May, 1806, that 
Dickinson returned to Nashville. When he read the letter 
in which General Jackson had published him as " a worth- 
less, drunken, blackguard scoundrel,'' he at once rushed 
into print with a card which was flippant and undignified 
in its tone, but which went no further than to retort upon 
Jackson the terms ''worthless scoundrel, poltroon and 
coward. ' ' 

General Jackson had twice flung those intolerably of- 
fensive epithets at Dickinson ; when the latter flung them 
back at him, Jackson immediately sent a challenge. On 
the same day it was accepted. 

On Friday, May 30, 1806, the duel was fought, at 
Harrison's Mills, Logan County, Kentucky, on Red 
River. The tragedy there enacted will be described in 
the words of James Parton, whose account is as nearly 
accurate, no doubt,, as can be written. 

In justice to the victim of this barbarous duel, it 
should be said that there isn't a particle of evidence that 
he was a practised duellist, that he had killed his man, 
that he amused himself by showing his skill with a pistol 
on the way to the ground, or that he indulged in any un- 
seemly bravado whatever. So far as the record dis- 
closes, Dickinson acted the brave gentleman throughout. 
The fight was not of his seeking. It was forced upon 
him. 

He but accepted the inevitable. He twice allowed 
Jackson to denounce him as a base poltroon, without 
sending a challenge. When he accepted the challenge, he 
must have realized the danger. General Jackson was 
well known as a man of iron nerve, and as a dead shot 
with a pistol. 

Brave I Of course Andrew Jackson was brave, but 
was he a coward who stood there unarmed, uncovered, 
within twenty feet of a dead shot, and never quivering a 
muscle while the ruthless Jackson snapped his pistol at 
him, recocked it deliberately, and shot him down? 

Did any man ever stand face to face with death and 
meet it more manfully than poor Charles Dickinson? 




The Jackson-Dickinson duel 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 115 

But let us read Parton's graphic story of the fight, 
and then leave the gruesome episode behind us, as we 
travel onward with the narrative of Jackson's eventful 
career : 



Dickinson's second won the choice of position, and 
Jackson 's the office of giving the word. The astute Over- 
ton considered this giving of the word a matter of great 
importance, and he had already determined how he 
would give it, if the lot fell to him. The eight paces were 
measured off, and the men placed. All the politenesses 
of such occasions were strictly and elegantly performed. 
Jackson was dressed in a loose frock-coat, buttoned care- 
lessly over his chest, and concealing in some degree the 
extreme slenderness of his figure. Dickinson was the 
younger and handsomer man of the two. But Jackson's 
tall, erect figure, and the still intensity of his demeanor, 
gave him a most superior and commanding air, as he 
stood under the poplars on this bright May morning, 
silently awaiting the moment of doom. ''Are you 
ready?" said Overton. "I am ready," replied Dickin- 
son. "I am ready," said Jackson, The words were no 
sooner pronounced than Overton, with a sudden shout, 
cried, using his old-country pronunciation, "Fere!'' 
Dickinson raised his pistol quickly and fired. Overton, 
who was looking with anxiety and dread at Jackson, saw 
a puff of dust fly from the breast of his coat, and saw him 
raise his left arm and place it tightly across his chest. 
He surely is hit, thought Overton, and in a bad place, 
too ; but no ; he does not fall. Erect and grim as Fate he 
stood, his teeth clenched, raising his pistol. Overton 
glanced at Dickinson. Amazed at the unwonted failure 
of his aim, and apparently appalled at the awful figure 
and face before him, Dickinson had unconsciously re- 
coiled a pace or two. "Great God!" he faltered, "have I 
missed him?" "Back to the mark, sir!" shrieked Over- 
ton, with his hand upon his pistol. Dickinson recovered 
his composure, stepped forward to the peg, and stood with 



.-r 




116 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

his eyes averted from his antagonist. Air this was the 
work of a moment, though it requires many words to tell 
it. General Jackson took deliberate air, and pulled the 
trigger. The pistol neither snapped nor went off. He 
looked at the trigger, and discovered that it had stopped 
at half cock. He drew it back to its place, and took aim 
a second time. He fired. Dickinson 's face blanched ; he 
reeled; his friends rushed towards him, caught him in 
their arms, and gently seated him on the ground, leaning 
against a bush. His trousers reddenen. They stripped 
him of his clothes. The blood was gushing from his side 
in a torrent. And, alas! here is the ball, not near the 
wound, but above the opposite hip, just under the skin. 
The ball had passed through the body, below the ribs. 
Such a wound could not but be fatal. Overton went for- 
ward and learned the condition of the wounded man. 
Eejoining his principal, he said, "He won't want any- 
thing more of you, General," and conducted him from 
the ground. They had gone a hundred yards, Overton 
walking on one side of Jackson, the surgeon on the other, 
and neither speaking a word, when the surgeon observed 
that one of Jackson's shoes was full of blood. "My God! 
General Jackson, are you hit ? " he exclaimed, pointing to 
the blood. "Oh! I believe," replied Jackson, "that he 
has pinked me a little. Let 's look at it. But say nothing 
about it there," pointing to the house. He opened his 
coat. Dickinson's aim had been perfect. He had sent 
the ball precisely where he supposed Jackson's heart 
was beating. But the thinness of his body and the loose- 
ness of his coat combining to deceive Dickinson,- the ball 
had only broken a rib or two, and raked the breast-bone. 
It was a somewhat painful, bad-looking wound, but 
neither severe nor dangerous, and he was able to ride to 
the tavern without much inconvenience. Upon approach- 
ing the house, he went up to one of the negro women who 
was churning, and asked her if the butter had come. She 
said it was just coming. He asked her for some butter- 
milk. While she was getting it for him, she observed him 
furtively open his coat and look within. She saw that his 




The spring-house where Jackson drank the buttermilk 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 117 

shirt was soaked with blood, and she stood gazing in 
blank horror at the sight, dipper in hand. He caught her 
eye, and hastily buttoned his coat again. She dipped out 
a quart measure full of buttermilk, and gave it to him. 
He drank it off at a draught ; then went in, took off his 
coat, and had his wound carefully examined and dressed. 
This done, he dispatched one of his retinue to Dr. Catlett, 
to inquire respecting the condition of Dickinson, and to 
say that the surgeon attending himself would be glad to 
contribute his aid towards Mr. Dickinson's relief. Polite 
reply was returned that Mr. Dickinson's case was past 
surgery. In the course of the day, General Jackson sent 
a bottle of wine to Dr. Catlett for the use of his patient. 
But there was one gratification which Jackson could not, 
even in such circumstances, grant him. A very old friend 
of Jackson writes to me thus: "Although the General 
had been wounded, he did not desire it should be known 
until he had left the neighborhood, and had therefore 
concealed it at first from his own friends. His reason 
for this, as he once stated to me, that as Dickinson con- 
sidered himself the best shot in the world, and was cer- 
tain of killing him at the first fire, he did not want him to 
have the gratification even of knowing that he had 
touched him. 

Poor Dickinson bled to death. The flowing of blood 
was stanched, but could not be stopped. He was conveyed 
to the house in which he had passed the night, and placed 
upon a mattress, which was soon drenched with blood. 
He suffered extreme agony, and uttered horrible cries all 
that long day. At nine o'clock in the evening he sud- 
denly asked why they had put out the lights. The doc- 
tors knew then that the end was at hand : that the wife, 
who' had been sent for in the morning, would not arrive 
in time to close her husband's eyes. He died five minutes 
after, cursing, it is said, with his last breath, the ball 
that had entered his body. The poor wife hurried away 
on hearing that her husband was "dangerously wound- 
ed, ' ' and met, as she rode towards the scene of the- duel, 



118 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the procession of silent horsemen escorting a rough emi- 
grant wagoti that contained her husband's remains." 



Dickinson was buried from the Ervin home in Nash- 
ville, and on the old Ervin farm in the outskirts of the 
City. 

His solitary" tomb is almost forgotten and few know 
where it is to be found. 




The house in which Dickinson died 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 119 



CHAPTER IX. 

And it came to pass that Aaron, the Prodigal Sol 
the Rev. Aaron Burr, — perfect Puritan, — and grandso 
of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, — perfect Evangelical 
Christian, — was, during these years, (1805- '06) passing 
up and down the earth seeking for himself an empire. 
More specifically, he was busy in the Mississippi Valley, 
pivoting his projects on New Orleans, and holding in 
view the purpose of dismembering the Spanish posses- 
sions, to erect thereon some sort of Supremacy of his 
own. The Western country was full of adventurous in- 
dividuals who were eager for almost any kind of enter- 
prise that promised excitement and profit. Against 
Spain, particularly, it would have been the easiest mat- 
ter to array the frontiersmen. The settlers of the 
South and West not only hated the Spaniards for their 
efforts to close the Mississippi against the Americans, 
but because of the constant encouragement and support 
given to warlike Indians by Spanish officials. 

Therefore, when Aaron Burr came West on his doubt- 
ful mission, we are not surprised to find him visiting 
Tennessee. Its geographical location made it compara- 
tively certain that he would be able to recruit from the 
ranks of its people many a volunteer for service against 
Spain. 

Besides, Burr was popular in Tennessee. As Senator 
from New York, he had been her friend when she sought 
admission into the Union. The young State had voted 
for Jefferson and Burr in 1800, and while Burr's sup- 
posed treachery to Jefferson had cast a temporary dam- 
per over his popularity in the West, his duel with Hamil- 
ton had removed it. He had killed his man, and the 
North cast him out ; he had killed his man, and the South 
took him in. 

At Nashville, the ex- Vice-President was given an 
ovation. Flags were paraded, cannon fired, and "martial 
music" let loose on the community. There was a ban- 



120 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

quet, of course ; and Col. Burr, of course, had to make a 
^eeeli. 

*Teneral Jackson, chief of the Tennessee Militia, was a 

essary personage on such an occasion, and he was 
iiere. In the course of the dinner, he gave the patriotic 
toast: ''Millions for defense, but not one cent for trib- 
ute." In 1806 this sentiment applied to nothing in par- 
ticular, least of all to the designs which Aaron Burr had 
in mind, but it was applauded, nevertheless. 

After the feast. Burr went home with Jackson, riding 
the milk-white mare which Jackson's servant had led 
into Nashville that morning. 

Previous to 1804, the home of General Jackson had 
been on a farm known as Hunter's Hill; but in that year, 
or about that date, he removed to the adjoining estate 
which became world-famous as the Hermitage. 

When ex- Vice-President Burr, an elegant New 
Yorker, alighted from the milk-white mare, that evening 
in 1805, and entered the home of Andrew Jackson as 
guest, he must have needed all of his tact and social grace 
to keep up the appearance of "feeling at home." 

The hospitable Spaniard receives you with a courtly 
flourish at his door and ushers you in with a gracious, 
"The house is yours, Senor." Of course the house isn't 
yours, but you feel that you have been heartily welcomed. 

In the South, the host says to the welcome guest, 
"Make yourself at home," — his meaning being practi- 
cally the same as that of our Spaniard. 

You may be sure that Andrew Jackson said to Aaron 
Burr, "Walk in, and make yourself at home," and you 
may be sure that Colonel Burr acted as easily as though 
he had been camping out in log houses all his life — for in 
the externals, at least. Colonel Burr was a finished gen- 
tleman. 

The dwelling in which Jackson lived in 1805, and until 
1819, consisted mainly of a substantial log house, built of 
squared logs, unceiled on the inside, and containing one 
large room, with a huge fire-place. Over this one room 
was a loft, or second story, divided into two rooms. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 121 

Connected with this bloek-honse was a smaller log 
cabin, and the connecting link between the two seems to 
have been a third log cabin which served both as a cov- 
ered "passage," and as a bed-room in emergencies. 

The General and good Aunt Eachel appear to have 
used the large room of the main building as bed room, 
living-room, reception hall and parlor. Such was the 
custom in those days, necessity making it so. 

Imagine a large, smoke-blackened room, with an old- 
fashioned bedstead, placed on one side of the fire-place, 
perhaps; candles flickering on mantel or table, a pine 
knot blazing on the hearth. General Jackson puffing 
away at a reed-stem cob-pipe on one side of the fire-place, 
and Aunt Eachel puffing away at a reed- stem cob-pipe 
on the other side of the fire-place; and Aaron Burr 
serenely seated somewhere in the middle space, looking 
for all the world as if he had been used to that kind of 
thing from his youth up, — and you will have a fairly 
faithful, after-supper picture of the inside of the Hermit- 
age in May 1805. 

Whatever the Burr projects may have been, Jackson 
was one of the main cogs in the wheel, and there is every 
reason to believe that the conclusion reached by Chief 
Justice Marshall after a careful sifting of the legal testi- 
mony was correct. Burr's design was to wrest from 
Spain a portion of her North American dominions. The 
scheme involved a crime, unless the United States 
declared war against Spain, but it seemed to be well 
within the range of possibilities that such an event would 
happen. Jackson was ready to sympathize with anything 
in that direction, and he was not the man to scruple much 
about the letter of the law. His intense feeling against 
Spain was shown throughout his own military career, 
and history must take notice of the fact that Sam Hous- 
ton, in going to Texas to lead the heroes of the war for 
Texan independence, was little more than the agent of 
President Jackson. And it must also be remembered 
that when the news of the Texas revolution came to the 
deathbed of Aaron Burr, in 1836, the unconquerable stoic 

9 a j 



122 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

who had never "winced nor cried aloud" during all the 
years when his head was bloody "beneath the bludgeon- 
ings of fate," exclaimed to the faithful few who minis- 
tered to him in his last hours, "There, you see! I was 
only thirty years too soon. What was treason in me, 
then, is patriotism now!" 

For five days. Colonel Burr prolonged his first visit 
to General Jackson ; and then, in a boat provided by Jack- 
son, he dropped down the Cumberland on his way to New 
Orleans. In August of the same year, 1805, Colonel Burr 
was back at the Hermitage, this time remaining even 
longer than before. After this there was important cor- 
respondence between the two, the gist of it being: "Have 
troops ready." 

Then, in September, 1806, Colonel Burr is again at 
the Hermitage, and this time it is Jackson who suggests 
to his friends the propriety of showing some public 
"mark of respect to this worthy visitant." 

It was determined that such "a mark of respect" 
should take the form of a public ball in Nashville. 
Shrewd, practical Andrew Jackson ! He was suffering at 
that time from a considerable decline in popularity. His 
Dickinsoli duel had hurt him in public opinion. None but 
his personal partisans had approved his course in that 
deplorable row. Throughout the State of Tennessee 
there was beginning to be a general opinion that Andrew 
Jackson was entirely too fractious, violent, and unscru- 
pulous, — even for a border State. 

Jackson was conscious of this loss of popularity and 
was stung by it. Reading between the lines, one can see 
a certain strategy in the use he now makes of "the hero 
of the hour," ex- Vice-President Burr. 

Since the duel, Jackson has made no public appear- 
ance. There is doubt as to how he will be received. Let 
us write letters to the Jackson partisans, let us invite 
certain local celebrities to come out to the Hermitage to 
pay their respects to" Colonel Burr, Tennessee's friend; 
above all, let Gen. James Robertson be urged to come. 
James Robertson is known as "the father of Tennessee," 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 123 

and if he will comp the ice will be broken, indeed. Then 
let us give a public ball. Of all functions, it is the easiest 
to steer to success. Everybody will go to the ball. The 
lights, the music, the dance, the gayety, the opportunity 
for yolithful vanity to make its display, while the elders 
talk of old times and encourage the revelry of the young, 
— these will make a success of a public ball, when any 
other social function would be a dismal failure. 

''The mark of respect" therefore takes the shape of a 
ball; and all the regions round about send their fair 
women and brave men ; and there is a prodigious amount 
of that old-fashioned muscular dancing which used to 
shake the house from top to bottom, and which bore no 
earthly resemblance to that effiminate performance 
called "tripping the light fantastic toe." 

Whether "the psychological moment" had been dis- 
covered in 1806 we really do not know, but good judges 
of human nature then knew when to do things, just as 
well as they know it now, — and Jackson was a good judge 
of human nature. Choosing the right moment, he 
entered the ball-room, and in the full uniform of a Major- 
General, with the distinguished visitor and guest of 
honor, Colonel Burr, on his arm. Going the rounds of 
the room, General Jackson, with that stately courtesy 
which was natural to him, introduced his distinguished 
friend and visitor, who charmed all hearts with his won- 
derful grace of manner and speech. Consider the epi- 
sode! Aaron Burr had killed Alexander Hamilton in a 
duel, a fair fight, according to the "Code of Honor." 
Tennessee has already shown, by the enthusiastic ova- 
tion of 1805, that she did not blame Colonel Burr for 
Hamilton's death. Now, in 1806, Andrew Jackson is 
laboring under some odium for the killing of Dickinson. 
What could more effectually remove that odium than 
that the two eminent duellists should appear, arm in arm, 
in a public ball-room, where people are naturally dis- 
posed to be lighthearted, and where any coolness to 
Jackson will be out of place, and an offense to the guest 
of honor. Colonel Burr? 



124 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Verily, those letters which Jackson wrote from the 
Hermitage to his friends in Nashville appear to have 
been shrewdly conceived. 

During November of the same year, 1806, Colonel 
Burr sent to General Jackson a large sum of money, 
($3,500) and orders for the building of boats and the 
purchase of provisions. Jackson's partner, John Coffee, 
begins the work of building the boats, and Jackson's man 
Friday, Patton Anderson, begins to *' raise a company of 
young men" to serve with Burr, — Anderson getting 
seven hundred dollars of the Burr money for his "expen- 
ses." Soon afterwards came the ugly rumors that Burr's 
design was against the United States. Jackson took 
alarm, and wrote a letter of warning to Governor Clai- 
borne, of the Orleans territory. 

In that letter there is this significant statement: "I 
hate the Dons ; I would delight to see Mexico reduced ; 
but I will die in the last ditch before I would yield a foot 
to the Dons, or see the Union disunited." 

This sentence would seem to unlock the mystery. In 
the light of all the known facts, it warrants the conclu- 
sion that Jackson had confederated with Burr in the 
belief that the Dons (the Spaniards) were to be attacked 
and Mexico reduced; but that if Burr meant to attempt 
the disruption of the Union, he would find a determined 
opponent in Jackson. 

There can be no reasonable doubt that Burr had told 
Jackson he meant to attack the Dons and reduce Mexico ; 
to this extent Jackson was heartily willing to go; his 
bosom friend, Patton Anderson, was enlisting volunteers 
for that very purpose; and his wife's nephew, Stokely 
Hays, was one of the young men who was to go with 
Burr. Jackson himself had made up the skeleton organ- 
ization of two regiments, in case a war was brought on 
between the United States and Spain. 

To say that Andrew Jackson went to these lengths in 
the belief that Burr contemplated nothing more than a 
settlement of a Spanish land grant on the Washita river, 
or an attack on the Dons if a war broke out between 








Aaron Burr 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 125 

Spain and the United States, is absurd. Jackson was 
made to believe, apparently, that it was a part of the 
scheme that General Wilkinson should bring on the war ! 
Wilkinson was in position to do that very thing. No one 
else was; and it needed but the lifting of a finger for 
General Wilkinson to start the ball rolling. On the 
Sabine river, American soldiers confronted the Spanish 
camp, and the Americans were eager to attack. Evi- 
dently, it was here that Burr expected the decisive action 
to be taken. But Wilkinson failed him. Up to that time, 
Wilkinson, Commander-in-Chief of the United States 
Army, had been in the plot. Why he suddenly betrayed 
it, cannot be known. His nerve may have weakened at 
the last moment. Or Spanish gold may have bribed him 
then, as it is known to have bought him later. Whatever 
the cause, his desertion put an end to the project. He 
not only deserted Burr, but betrayed him. 

When we recall the facts that Colonel Burr never did 
find fault with Jackson, but praised him ; and that Jack- 
son neved did denounce Burr, but defended him ; and that 
both Jackson and Burr always displayed the utmost con- 
tempt for, and hatred of Wilkinson, the supposition that 
the trio were engaged in the conimon plot against Mexico, 
and that the treachery and the perjury of Wilkinson were 
the causes of the contempt and the hatred of Burr and 
Jackson, becomes the most reasonable explanation of the 
facts. 

Jackson attended the famous trial of Burr for trea- 
son, as a witness ; and on the streets of Richmond loudly 
and roundly denounced President Jefferson for his per- 
secution of Burr. Although summoned as a witness for 
the prosecution, the Government did not "put him up." 

General Jackson's curious and natural tendency to 
strut, crops out amusingly in a private letter written 
from Richmond to his friend, Patton Anderson. He has 
been in Richmond several weeks, and Mrs. Jackson, left 
at the Hermitage, is anxious for his return. The Gen- 
eral, writing to his friend Anderson, bids him see Mrs. 
Jackson and "tell her not to be uneasy. I will be home 



126 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

as soon as my obedience to the precept of my country 
will permit." 

Most witnesses attend court because tliey are sub- 
poenaed; with Gen. Andrew Jackson the ceremony was 
not so simple. With him the answer to a court summons 
takes the stately form of "obedience to the precept of 
my country. ' ' 

During the brief flurry caused by the rumor that 
Aaron Burr was about to overturn the Government, or 
do other things equally irregular, Nashville fell into a 
panic. There was a rush to arms. General Jackson, as 
in duty bound, called out the militia; and the patriotic 
fever ran so high that the Revolutionary veterans, headed 
by noble old James Robertson, volunteered their services. 
In the address prepared for them they declared, 
"This is an important crisis when the limits of legal 
active exertion should not be sought with a microscopic 
eye. ' ' 

These fine old men sincerely believed that something 
desperate was about to happen, — yet no one could say 
that an armed force, of any kind, threatened the good 
order, peace and dignity of the Union. In fact, there was 
no such force in existence. 

Nevertheless, the blind panic of fear and hatred drove 
the Ohio militia to wanton, brutal outrage at Blenner- 
hassett's Island-home, and the same panic caused a deal 
of bombastic performance at Nashville. 

General Jackson, eager to make the most of the 
opportunity, published a formal reply to the address of 
the Revolutionary veterans. In this proclamation to 
"Gen. James RolDertson and the Corps of Invincibles, " 
the Jacksonian strut appears in all its glory. 

After reminding the Invincibles that the offer of 
their services at this serious crisis will be gratefully 
appreciated by the President of the United States, and 
noticed by future historians as an instance of patriotism 
to be found only in republics. General Jackson indulges 
in a strain of lofty moralizing which carries him into 
such expressions as these: 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 127 

"Age in a Government of laws and freedom, is 
entitled to' a claim of patriotism, but it is usually entitled 
to the highest respect from the young. The frost of age 
is as necessary in the moral as in the physical world. The 
dissipated attention of men is collected, and the natural 
relaxation of youth invigorated." 

If you, gentle reader, can tell what that means, you 
haye the advantage of this biographer. 

So promptly had General Jackson written to the 
President, as well as to Governor Claiborne, and so 
energetic had been his preparations to smash whatever 
treasonable movement might show its head, that the sus- 
picions of his patriotism, aroused by his intimacy with 
Burr, passed away. Neither at home nor abroad was it 
doubted, thenceforth, that he was intensely loyal to his. 
country. 

The years between 1806 to 1812, are comparatively 
uneventful in the life of Andrew Jackson. By the Fed- 
eral administration he was regarded as a malcontent. 
Upon Mr. Jefferson, the Chief of his party, he had made 
the impression that he was a rash, quarrelsome, violent 
man. In Tennessee, the people were divided, but it is 
probable that during these years Jackson would have 
been rejected at the polls in any fair contest for public 
office. 

His private affairs were sufficient, however, to keep 
him busy. He owned one of the finest farms in the love- 
liest region that the sun shines on. He had one hundred 
and fifty slaves and managed them with perfect success. 
His home life was happy. Grieved because children had 
not come to bless his marriage with Rachel Donelson, 
he adopted as his son one of his nephews. Afterwards, 
another of her nephews became a member of the family, 
and was treated like a son. 

Fractious and hard to get along with everywhere 
else, Jackson was a model of patience, indulgenc 
and affectionate loyalty in his own home. A prince 
of hospitality, his door flew open to the peddler with 
his pack as readily as to generals, governors, and 



128 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

senators. A more devoted husband never lived. As 
she grew older and her husband rose in the world, 
Aunt Rachel's appearance and accomplishments were 
not of the kind to show to advantage. She was 
short and stout, — a dumpy woman, — and it must be 
owned that she was illiterate. She dressed in the plain- 
est way, consulting her bodily comfort therein with a 
serene disregard of the latest Parisian agonies. She was 
apt to express herself in the homely fashion which had 
been in vogue in the backwoods when she was a girl, but 
which was not precisely suited to the improving taste of 
Nashville, or to the polite circles of New Orleans. Con- 
sequently, as Jackson's fame spread abroad, and social 
obligations called him and Aunt Rachel into companies 
where custom had laid down the unwritten laws of social 
propriety, it became necessary for the young ladies of 
Nashville, who were of the Jackson party, to chaperon 
Aunt Rachel and steer the good soul safely along the 
ceremonial channels, lest she cause distress to the Jack 
son party by going blindly on the reefs. 

But, to the immense credit of General Jackson, it is 
to be said that if ever he was in the slightest degree con- 
scious of the limitations of his wife, he was too much of 
a nobleman to show it. In public and in private, his 
bearing toward her was that of the loyal, devoted cava- 
lier. At balls, he led her out on the floor to dance the 
jump-up-and-kick-your-heels reel, with all the gravity of 
George Washington walking the minuet. Jackson was 
tall and his wife short ; he was lean and she was fat ; and 
when they threw themselves into the old-fashioned reel, 
bobbing back and forth, jumping up and down, heels and 
heads and hands flying about in the abandon that made 
the floor rock, the sight must have been grotesque. But 
there was nothing ludicrous in it to Jackson, and if any- 
body felt like laughing he was too prudent to do it. 

Living in a cattle-raising section which has no supe- 
rior in the world, Jackson made a specialty of fine stock. 
No man was fonder of a good horse, and nobody rode or 
drove better ones than himself. At the race-track he 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 129 

continued to be a leading figure, always entering a horse 
of his own, and betting on it. It is not recorded that he 
ever made or lost any reckless wagers, though there is at 
least one well attested instance of Jackson's winning all 
the money and all the negroes that a fellow Tennessean 
had. Like most high-strung "gentleman-sports," he was 
sensitive to any disparagement of his horse. This irri- 
tability sometimes carried him too far. 

For instance: on one occasion, on the race course at 
Nashville, Jackson became enraged at some slighting re- 
mark made about his horse by Colonel Rutherford, a 
Revolutionary soldier a few years older than Jackson. 
Patton Anderson, the superserviceable man Friday 
whose unbridled tongue started the Dickinson affair, 
went to Colonel Rutherford, who was on the ground, and 
said to him: 

"General Jackson has heard that you have spoken 
disparagingly of his horse, and he told me to warn you 
that if there was a repetition of the same he would hold 
you personally responsible." 

There were brave men before Julius Caesar, or Aga- 
memnon either, and General Jackson was not by any 
means the only "dead game" man in Tennessee, — as 
some foolish romancers would have us believe. 

Colonel Rutherford's answer to the officious Ander- 
son was this : 

"You tell General Jackson for me that I will say what 
I d — n please about him and his horse, and that I have as 
good a pair of duelling pistols as he has, and am ready 
to meet him at any time." 

We have no record of the tale carried, this time, to 
General Jackson by the too zealous Patton Anderson, but 
we do know that when General Jackson, next morning 
met Colonel Rutherford, the General hailed the Revolu- 
tionary hero with a, 

' ' Good morning. Colonel Rutherford ! I hope you are 
in good health, and I want to say to you that Patton An- 
derson is a liar. I did not say to him what he told you I 
said. I have always respected you, Sir. ' ' 



130 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

And the present biographer considers that this manly 
disclaimer, made by the one brave man to the other, was 
infinitely more creditable to General Jackson than a 
foolish persistence in backing np with his pistol some 
petulant, race-track words which had no earthly impor- 
tance. 

Poor Patton Anderson lost his own life in a personal 
feud not long afterwards, and though General Jackson 
threw the full weight of his influence against the man 
who killed his friend, the slayer escaped with a slight 
sentence. Anderson's well known character for violence, 
which Jackson had to practically admit on the stand, and 
Jackson's own intemperate zeal for the prosecution were 
the salvation of the accused in what appears to have been 
a premeditated murder. 

(Thomas H. Benton was the leading lawyer of the 
defendant, and his cross-examination of Jackson turned 
the tide for his client.) 

Continuing his profitable business of negro-trader, in 
which he had a partnership with Coleman and Green, 
Jackson became involved in a row with Silas Dinsmore, 
the U. S. Agent to the Choctaw Indians. This squabble 
would not now be worth noticing, did it not throw a bright 
light over the subject we are studying — the character of 
Andrew Jackson. 

Dinsmore was stationed among the Choctaws as resi- 
dent agent of the Government. It was his duty to protect 
white settlers from Indian depredations, and the Indians 
from white encroachments. There is nothing to show 
that he was other than a faithful servant of the Govern- 
ment, honestly trying to discharge his duty. But his 
task was difficult, and luck was against him. His troubles 
arose out of a dispute over the road which ran 
through the Choctaw Nation from the Mississippi river. 
The treaty between the United States and the Choc- 
taws guaranteed a free public road, open to all. But 
a subsequent Act of Congress provided that travelers 
carrying negroes along the road should have a passport 
for the negroes. This act was, of course, intended to 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 131 

stop ''the run-away nigger." Therefore the planters, 
who owned slaves highly approved the Act, and insisted 
that Dinsmore enforce it. The negro-traders, quite as 
naturally, objected to the Act, as in restraint of trade, 
and violently resented Dinsmore 's efforts to compel a 
compliance with the law. 

General Jackson, having occasion, as already stated, 
to carry a string of slaves through the Choctaw country 
not only did not get the papers required by the Act of 
Congress, but armed his negroes to make resistance to the 
Government, should the Agent try to prevent his pas- 
sage. Dinsmore happened to be away from the agency 
at the time, but Jackson rode up and delivered his defi- 
ance to some Indians who were lounging around — telling 
them to deliver his message of challenge and defiance to 
the Agent upon his return. 

To such a pitch of wrath did General Jackson work 
himself over the quarrel with Dinsmore, that he wrote a 
formal letter to Congressman Geo. W. Campbell, of the 
Nashville District, requesting him to inform the Secre- 
tary of War of certain things. 

Congressman Campbell was asked to inform the Sec- 
retary of War that, if the Government did not remove 
Dinsmore, the people of Tennessee would rise in wrath 
and indignation, "sweep the Agent from the earth, and 
burn the agency-house." General Jackson admits, in this 
letter, that both Col. Ben Hawkins, the trusted friend of 
George Washington, and James Eobertso'n, "the father 
of Tennessee," are against him on this issue, but never- 
theless the Congressman must inform the Secretary of 
War that unless Dinsmore is removed "the agent and his 
houses will be demolished." 

Yet it is clear that Jackson was wrong. The Act of 
Congress, putting a condition upon the transport of 
slaves along a highway guaranteed by Treaty, was no 
more an infringement upon higher law than the statute 
against concealed weapons which puts conditions upon 
the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. 

Not directly, but indirectly Jackson's war upon Dins- 



132 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

more drove out of the public service, and condemned to 
an old age of poverty, a worthy citizen who had done 
Jackson no wrong, and whose conduct in the trying office 
of Indian Agent had been dictated by a sense of duty. 

But the significance of the episode is to be found in 
this: — Jackson was ready to throw the people of Ten- 
nessee into armed conflict with the authorities of the 
Federal Government, in a case where he thought the 
Union was tramping upon the rights of a State. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 133 



CHAPTER X. 

The casting vote of Governor Roane, which made 
Andrew Jackson Major-General of the Tennessee Militia, 
condemned him to defeat at the next election, but it was 
the making of Jackson. John Sevier was too much of a 
hero in the eyes of the voters of the State for them to 
sanction at the polls the slight which Governor Roane had 
put upon him, in appointing over his head the young law- 
yer from North Carolina, who had never taken part in 
any military expedition. As already stated, Sevier 
became a candidate for Governor against Roane, in 1803, 
and was elected. After this, Roane remained in private 
life until 1811, when he received an appointment as 
Judge of one of the Superior Courts, thus dropping into 
a secondary position. Whether Andrew Jackson felt 
grateful to Governor Roane we cannot say. There is no 
evidence anywhere that he went further in Roane 's behalf 
than to support him for re-election in 1803, when the 
popularity of John Sevier overcame the combined 
strength of Jackson and Roane. 

It is quite clear that to this office of Major-General 
of the Tennessee Militia, Jackson owes his subsequent 
success and importance. The two predominating traits 
in his character were fierce energy and almost abnormal 
cambativeness. Had he remained a private citizen, his 
strength would have been wasted in personal quarrels, 
race-track contests, with an occasional street fight, or des- 
perate duel. The passions born in such a man require an 
outlet. When the door of opportunity was opened to him 
to make the most of his strong qualities in their natural 
field, military activity, his triumph and his fame were 
assured. Before his genius for detail, his restless 
activity, and the impetuosity and fearlessness of his 
initiative, everything save the most extraordinary power 
of resistance, was bound to go down in defeat. He was to 
prove that in preparing for conflict he was as careful as 
Napoleon; that in dashing upon his enemies he had the 
resistless confidence of Alexander : and that in his ruth- 



134 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

less following up of victory he has never been excelled by 
any of the great captains. 

Without the Major-Generalship, it is difficult to see 
how Jackson would have maintained himself and secured 
the opportunities which enabled him to show the great- 
ness that was in him. But for this appointment, he would 
not have been the military leader of Tennessee in the 
War of 1812. He would not have had the opportunity to 
become famous as the chieftain who broke the warlike 
and powerful Creeks, and who gave to Great Britain the 
bloodiest beating she ever got on the field of battle. 
Without this appointment, Jackson would have been com- 
pelled to go to the wars in some subordinate capacity and 
take his chances of being courtmartialed and shot for dis- 
obedience to his superior officers. 

It was in October, 1812, that the Secretary of War 
wrote to the Governor of Tennessee, calling out fifteen 
hundred militia for the defense of the lower country. As 
a matter of fact, the force so called for was intended for 
the conquest of those Spanish possessions known as the 
Two Floridas. This purpose was well understood in 
Tennessee. For such an object every man in Tennessee 
capable of bearing arms was ready to serve. 

Governor Blount having authorized Major-General 
Jackson to call out volunteers, the call was issued Decem- 
ber 14. The volunteers assembled at Nashville on Decem- 
ber 10th, and on January 7, 1813, the infantry descended 
the river in boats, while the mounted men rode through 
the country to Natchez. That the real purpose of the ex- 
pedition was thoroughly understood and approved by 
Jackson and his men is shown by the letter which the 
General wrote to the Secretary of War. Said he: "I 
am now at the head of 2,070 volunteers, the choicest of 
our citizens, who go at the call of their country to execute 
the will of the Government ; who have no constitutional 
scruples, and if the Government orders, will rejoice at the 
opportunity of placing the American Eagle on the ram- 
parts of Mobile, Pensacola, and Fort St. Augustine." 

It will be remembered that throughout the year 1812 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 135 

United States troops still occupied Amelia Island and the 
St. Mary's River, although Congress had refused to 
authorize this occupation. The President, however, 
expected that at the next session of Congress the plans 
which he and Mr. Jefferson had both favored would meet 
with Congressional approval, and that the Two Floridas 
would become territory of the United States. It was in 
anticipation of this action of Congress that the troops 
from Tennessee were moved to Natchez, which place they 
reached February 15th. There they went into camp to 
await orders from Washington, believing that they would 
be directed to advance against Mobile or Pensacola. 

In the second volume of a book recently published un- 
der the title "Holston Methodism, from Its Origin to the 
Present Time," the author, Rev. Richard N. Price, of 
Tennessee, relates that when Andrew Jackson was or- 
ganizing his division to descend the Mississippi, he 
offered the Chaplaincy to Learner Blackman, a Methodist 
preacher. The offer was accepted, and Mr. Blackman 
went with the boats down the river. The Chaplain was 
unremitting in his labors among the soldiers, going from 
boat to boat to preach and pray. The officers were not 
saints, and the soldiers were sinners ; but they were com- 
pelled to respect the intense earnestness of their Chap- 
lain. Mr. Blackman was honest and fearless in preach- 
ing the gospel to the soldiers, and when he found that one 
of the sick was likely to die, he did not hesitate to tell him, 
in moving terms, that death was near. It seems that 
Jackson heard this and disapproved of it. He thought 
that the spirits of the sick man should be kept up to the 
last moment, upon, I presume, the good old theory that 
"While there is life there is hope." Consequently, the 
General told the preacher to quit telling his men that 
they were going to die. The Chaplain was urged to keep 
that opinion to himself. But Jackson met his match in 
Blackman. The Chaplain told the General, politely, but 
firmly, that on a question of that sort he would do just 
as he thought best, acting independently of the wishes 
and instructions of the commanding General. Jackson 



136 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

had too much common sense to raise a row with a consci- 
entious minister of the gospel on a question of such a 
delicate nature, and the intrepid preacher had his own 
way. 

The Senate refused to authorize the seizure of East 
Florida, and therefore Mr. Madison's plans were thrown 
into confusion. There being no further use for General 
Jackson 's troops, orders were sent to him, directing him 
to dismiss his force, "the causes of embodying and 
marching to New Orleans the corps under your com- 
mand having ceased to exist. ' ' 

Jackson himself could not know what were the condi- 
tions at Washington which caused this face-about of the 
administration, and he was naturally and intensely 
indignant at the curt manner in which he and his volun- 
teers were turned adrift, so far from home, to make their 
way back as best they could. Feeling that he owed it to 
the patriots of Tennessee who had volunteered to serve 
under him to take them back in a body to Nashville 
before disbanding them, he made himself responsible for 
their pay and rations, collected whatever means of trans- 
portation the country afforded, gave his own drafts right 
and left for sums which meant his bankruptcy, in case 
the Government should fail to recognize its obligations 
to meet them; and thus, by his splendid loyalty to his 
troops, laid that first firm foundation of general popu- 
larity in his State which was to steadily bear him up 
through all subsequent stages. 

The War Department had not meant to be discour- 
teous or unfair to the Tennessee troops, but the original 
order for the disbandonment had been issued upon the 
assumption that Jackson was still in the neighborhood 
of Nashville. When the Washington authorities learned 
the true circumstances, the Secretary, Armstrong, wrote, 
March 22d, a very friendly letter to General Jackson, 
thanking him for the important services his troops 
would have rendered, "had the executive policy of occu- 
pying the Two Floridas been adopted by the National 
Legislature. ' ' 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 137 

In this connection it should be stated that immedi- 
ately upon receipt of the news that war had been declared 
against Great Britain, General Jackson had offered 
to the President, through Governor Blount, of Ten- 
nessee, June 25th, 1812, his own services and those of 
2,500 volimteers of his division. While the Secretary of 
War assured Jackson that the President had received 
his tender of services with peculiar satisfaction and 
expressed himself as "accepting" their services, the 
summer and autumn passed away without any call hav- 
ing been made upon the Tennessee troops. 

It was, no doubt, a lively scene at Natchez on the day 
when Jackson received the brief note from the Secretary 
of War, ordering him to dismiss his corps and to deliver 
to Major-General Wilkinson of the regular army "all 
the articles of public property which may have been put 
into its possession." Relating the circumstance long 
afterwards, Thomas H. Benton, who was one of the 
officers accompanying Jackson on this expedition, said: 
"I well remember the day when the order came. The 
first I knew of it was a message from the General to 
come to him at his tent ; for, though as coloinel of a regi- 
ment I had ceased to be aide, yet my place had not been 
filled and I was sent for as much as ever. He showed me 
the order and also his character in his instant determi- 
nation not to obey it. He had sketched a severe answer 
to the Secretary of War, and gave it to me to copy and 
arrange the matter of it. It was very severe. I tried 
hard to get some parts softer, but impossible. He then 
called a council of field officers, as he called it, though 
there was but little of the council in it, the only object 
being to hear his determination and take measures for 
executing it. The officers were unanimous in their 
determination to support him." 

General Jackson was in such a towering rage that he 
not only wrote what Mr. Benton termed "a very severe 
letter" to the Secretary of War, but he also wrote to the 
President and to the Commander-in-Chief of the United 
States Army, General Wilkinson, and also to Governor 

10 a j 



138 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Blount, of Tennessee, — letters which Mr. Parton, the 
Biographer, says were "explanatory and indignant." 

Gathering up what wagons he could for the transport 
of provisions, baggage, and the sick, the General put out 
through the woods to march about 500 miles, the distance 
between Natchez and home. It was on this return trip 
that he won the nickname of "Old Hickory." Giving up 
his three horses for the use of the sick who were able to 
ride, he trudged along on foot like any private of the 
ranks; not only preserving his own cheerfulness amid 
the trials of tramping over muddy roads and the discom- 
forts of camping in the wilderness, but contributing by 
his constant attentions to keep up the spirits of all the 
others. His powers of endurance excited admiration, 
and it began to be remarked that the General was tough ; 
then the use of a common backwoods simile began to be 
heard, and the men would say — "The General is as 
tough as hickory;" then again he was called "Hickory;" 
and lastly that term of endearment peculiar to our peo- 
ple was affixed, and he was called "Old Hickory," a 
name which stuck. 

Before reaching the borders of Tennessee, General 
Jackson again offered the services of himself and his 
men to the Government, asking to be employed on the 
Canadian frontier. He offered to increase his force, if 
that were considered necessary. But the opportunity 
was not given him to show whether or not he could have 
done something in the North to remove the disgrace 
which had there fallen upon our arms. 

It was on the 22d of May that the returning army of 
Tennesseans was drawn up on the public square in Nash- 
ville to hear the formal command to disperse to their 
homes. This act was elaborated into a ceremonial, in 
which a flag worked by the ladies of East Tennessee and 
bearing an appropriate inscription, was presented to the 
Volunteers, and accepted in a becoming reply by General 
Jackson. Always gallant. General Jackson expressed 
himself handsomely in these words: "While I admire 
the elegant workmanship of these colors, my veneration 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 139 

is excited for the patriotic disposiiton that prompted the 
ladies to bestow them on the volunteers of West Ten- 
nessee. Although the patriotic corps under my com- 
mand have not had an opportunity of meeting an enemy, 
yet they have evinced their disposition to do so. This 
distinguished mark of respect will be long remembered, 
and this splendid present shall be kept as a memorial of 
of the generosity and patriotism of the ladies of East 
Tennessee." 

That General Jackson came off with flying colors 
from this abortive military expedition, is abundantly 
shown by all the circumstances which mark the final dis- 
bandment of the troops. The Nashville Whig probably 
did not exaggerate the literal facts when it said : ' * Long 
will their General live in the memory of the volunteers 
of West Tennessee, for his benevolent, humane and fath- 
erly treatment of his soldiers; if gratitude and love can 
reward him. General Jackson has them. It affords us 
pleasure to say that we believe there is not a man be- 
longing to the detachment but what loves him. His fel- 
low citizens at home are not less pleased with his con- 
duct. We fondly hope his merited worth will not be 
overlooked by the Government," 

As this episode marks the real beginning of Jack- 
son's unquestioned popularity in Tennessee, it may be 
worth noticing that it arose from his doing what he 
thought was right in spite of the positive orders of his 
superior officers. He defied the Government, stood by 
his own troops, risked bankruptcy, and became a hero. 

The sequel is well related by Colonel Benton, who 
says: "We all returned, were discharged, dispersed 
among our homes, and the fine chance on which we had 
so much counted was all gone. But now came a blow 
upon Jackson himself, the fruit of the moneyed respon- 
sibility which he had assumed. His transportation 
drafts were all protested — returned upon him for pay- 
ment, which was impossible, and directions to bring suit. 
This was the month of May. I was going to Washington 
on my own account, and cordially took charge of Jack- 



140 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

son's case. Suits were delayed until the result of Ms 
application for relief could be heard." 

Colonel Benton then tells how he applied to the mem- 
bers of Congress from Tennessee, without results, how 
he then applied to the Secretary of War, with no better 
success. "Weeks had passed away, and the time for 
delay was expiring at Nashville. Ruin seemed to be 
hovering over the head of Jackson, and I felt the neces- 
sity of some decisive movement, I decided to make an 
appeal from the justice of the administration to its fears. 
I drew up a memoir addressed to the Secretary of War, 
representing to him that these volunteers were drawn 
from the bosoms of almost every substantial family in 
Tennessee — that the whole State stood by Jackson in 
bringing them home — and that the State would be lost to 
the administration if he was left to suffer. It was upon 
this last argument that I relied — all those founded in 
justice having failed." 

Colonel Benton then relates how the Secretary took 
the paper home with him for Sabbath cogitations, and 
how on Monday morning he came back to his office dis- 
posed to do whatever was in his power. The Secretary, 
however, did not see what authority he had in the prem- 
ises. Colonel Benton readily suggested that he had noth- 
ing to do except to write an order to General Wilkinson, 
Quartermaster-General of the Southern Department, to 
pay for so much transportation as General Jackson's 
command would have been entitled to, if it had returned 
under regular orders. The Secretary at once adopted 
the suggestion and the order was immediately sent. 
Jackson was relieved from threatened ruin, and Ten- 
nessee, in the words of Colonel Benton, "remained firm 
to the administration." In other words, by playing upon 
the political fears of a cabinet officer. Colonel Benton 
succeeded, in a round-about way, in doing that which 
should have been done without political threats. 

As Colonel Benton left Washington upon his return 
trip to Nashville, he must have felt pleasurable emotions 
as he pictured to himself the greetings with which 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 141 

General Andrew Jackson would welcome him home. 
He had just rendered his chief a most important 
service. He had saved Jackson's credit and fortune. 
He had every right to expect the profoundest grati- 
tude from the man whom he had so signally aided. 
Instead of this, the first news from Tennessee that 
reached Col. Tom Benton on his homeward journey from 
Washington, was that his brother, Jesse Benton, had 
been engaged in a duel with Wm. Carroll, and that Gen- 
eral Jackson had acted as the friend and second of his 
brother's antagonist. 

Thus the strange spectacle was presented of one of 
the Benton brothers striving heroically to save Jack- 
son from ruin in Washington, while the other was 
risking his life in a combat with pistols, with Jackson 
on the other side. No wonder Colonel Benton was 
furiously angry. The nearer he came to Nashville 
the more he heard about the duel, — in which his 
brother had received a wound, — and these stories, like 
all such stories, were more or less exaggerated. The 
situation seemed to Col. Tom Benton so unnatural, so 
outrageous, so ungrateful, so tantalizing, and intoler- 
able, that he, being a man of fierce temper and fearless 
disposition himself, began to denounce Jackson's con- 
duct in unmeasured language. Alert friends of both 
parties, of course, carried reports to Jackson of this 
fiery Benton talk, and of course, in a very short while 
Jackson's tone was equally warlike. Finally, the stories 
concerning Benton's language were so provoking to 
Jackson, that, throwing to the winds all thought of 
gratitude and of forbearance, the irate General swore 
that he would horsewhip Tom Benton on sight. 

Colonel Benton had hardly reached Nashville before 
General Jackson and his faithful John Coffee were on 
hand, ready for the fray. The Benton brothers reached 
the city in the morning, and put up at a different hotel 
from that which had heretofore been frequented by them- 
selves and Jackson. They thus showed a disposition to 
avoid a chance meeting with Jackson, of whose threats 



142 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

they had heard. That afternoon General Jackson and his 
faithful John Coffee rode into Nashville, took up their 
quarters at their accustomed hotel, the Nashville Inn, and 
not finding the Bentons at this place, where they were evi- 
dently expected, Jackson and Coffee deliberately sought 
out the Bentons at their hotel, where General Jackson^ 
seeing Colonel Benton standing in the door, suddenly 
turned toward him with his whip m his right hand, and 
rapidly approaching him said: ''Now, you d — 'd rascal, 
I am going to punish you. Defend yourself. ' ' 

The stories of what occurred after this, are so hope- 
lessly confused and contradictory that no man can safely 
say what happened. The faithful John Coffee put forth, 
as was his custom in such Jacksonian emergencies, a 
statement :vyjiich relieved his chief as far as stubborn 
facts would lalow ; but the substantial truth of the matter 
would seem to be that as General Jackson advanced upon 
Colonel Benton, the latter attempted to draw his pistol, 
but met with difficulty in doing so, the weapon apparently 
getting obstructed by his clothing. While Jackson was 
advancing and Col. Thds. Benton receding and still 
attempting to draw his pistol, Jesse Benton entered the 
hall passage behind the belligerents, and seeing his 
brother's danger, drew his pistol and fired at Jackson, 
inflicting a terrible wound, which splintered the bone of 
his arm and tore open his shoulder. Jackson fell across 
the entry bleeding profusely. Col. Thos. Benton always 
contended that General Jackson fired at him and missed, 
and that he fired at the General and missed; also that 
Colonel Coffee fired at him and missed. He claimed that 
one of the pistols fired at him was so close that the blaze 
burned the sleeve of his coat. He also claimed that dag- 
gers were used in the affray by Colonel Coffee and Mr. 
Alexander Donaldson, who gave him five slight wounds 
with these knives. After Colonel Coffee had fired at 
Col. Thos. Benton and missed, he clubbed his pistol — 
the large, single-barreled, heavy affair of those days — 
and was about to strike Benton, who continued to step 
backward, when getting to the head of the stairs, without 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 143 

being aware of tliem, he fell headlong to the bottom. 
Colonel Coffee then gave his attention to General 
Jackson. 

The report of Jesse Benton's pistol attracted to the 
scene, Stokely Hayes, a nephew of Mrs. Jackson, the 
same young man who had joined the Aaron Burr expedi- 
tion. When he came into the hotel and found General 
Jackson lying on the floor, weltering in his blood, he 
drew the sword cane of his walking stick and made such 
a frantic lunge at Jesse Benton that the weapon, being 
slender and ha\dng struck a button on Jesse's coat, 
snapped in pieces. This young man, who is reported as 
having been of gigantic size and strength, then drew a 
dirk and threw himself upon Jesse Benton, got him down 
and held him with one hand, while he raised the knife to 
plunge into his breast. Jesse Benton held on to the 
coat cuff of Hayes with such desperate determination 
that, while he could not stop the descending arm, he 
diverted the direction of the blow and thus received only 
a flesh wound. By this time other bystanders had rushed 
in, and the brutal affair was stopped. Jackson, almost 
fainting from loss of blood and still bleeding fearfully, 
was borne to a room in the Nashville Inn, where it is said 
that two mattresses were soaked before the flow of blood 
could be checked. The doctors wanted to amputate the 
arm, but the indomitable Jackson refused to allow it, 
saying — ^'I will keep my arm." No attempt was made 
to extract the bullet, and it remaihed there for twenty 
years. 

After Jackson had been carried away to his bed, the 
Bentons kept possession of the field and indulged in 
some backwoods bravado. Colonel Benton went out into 
the public square, bellowed words of defiance and con- 
tempt in the loudest tones of his thundering voice, broke 
Jackson's sword across his knee, flung the fragments on 
the ground and thus gratified his own vanity with 
impunity, — for General Jackson's friends were too anx- 
iously concerned about his life at that moment to renew 
the fight. In the following days, however. Colonel Ben- 



144 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

ton could have had quite as much warfare as he wanted, 
for he himself wrote — "I am literally in hell here, the 
meanest wretches under heaven to contend with — liars, 
affidavit makers, and shameless cowards. The scalping 
knife of Tecumseh is mercy compared with the affidavits 
of these villains. I am in the middle of hell, and see no 
alternative but to kill or be killed; for I will not crouch 
to Jackson, and the fact that I and my brother defeated 
him and his tribe, and broke his small-sword in the public 
square will forever rankle in his bosom and make him 
thirst for vengeance. My life is in danger." 

Shortly after this. Colonel Benton went to his home 
in Franklin, Tenn. Being appointed Lieutenant-Colonel 
in the regular army, he left the State to serve for the 
remainder of the war elsewhere. At the close of the war, 
he resigned his commission, emigrated to Missouri, and 
did not again meet General Jackson until 1823, when 
they were both members of the United States Senate. 
They became reconciled, Jackson, it is said, making the 
first advances. 

As to Jesse Benton, he could never forgive Jackson, 
nor forgive his brother for becoming reconciled to 
Jackson. 

To the day of his death, Jesse Benton never failed to 
denounce Jackson in the bitterest terms whenever he 
heard Jackson's name mentioned. Col. Tom Benton 
made many efforts to re-establish fraternal relations 
with his brother, explaining to Jesse that he was com- 
pelled to support Jackson in order to secure necessary 
aid in carrying out certain policies of the Government 
which he regarded as vital to the welfare of the people. 
Col. Tom Benton's well known vanity has often been 
illustrated by the quoting of his remark that "Jackson 
was of great service to me in my fight against the Bank. ' ' 
Jesse Benton, however, refused to be mollified, although 
Thomas H. named his only daughter after his brother. 
This daughter, Jessie Benton, as is well known, became 
the wife of "The Great Explorer," John C. Fremont. 

So implacable was Jesse Benton that, upon one occa- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 145 

sion when lie was the guest of Col. John Williams he hap- 
pened to see, through the window, his brother Tom Ben- 
ton riding up to the gate, some thirty or forty yards 
away. Colonel Williams, anxious to avoid an unpleasant 
scene and to be instrumental in bringing about a recon- 
ciliation between the two brothers, went to Jesse's room 
and, laying his hand on the shoulder of his guest, said in 
a persuasive voice, "Jesse, your brother Tom has just 
arrived, let me be the happy medium of reconciling you 
two brothers who have been too long estranged." But 
Jesse was unyielding. "No," he cried, "so help me God, 
Colonel Williams! I will never take the hand of my 
brother Tom because he has supported Andrew Jack- 
son." The pleadings of Colonel Williams were of no 
avail, and Jesse Benton, ordering his horse, rode away, 
swearing that the same roof could not shelter him and 
Tom Benton or any other friends of Andrew Jackson. 
As Jesse left the house, he passed Col. Tom Benton but 
did not speak to him. 

It may interest the reader to state that Jesse Benton 
continued to live within a few miles of Nashville and, al- 
though a bitter, outspoken enemy of Andrew Jackson, 
continued to be elected to the Tennessee Legislature. He 
died three or four years before the late Civil War began. 

Touching this affray with the Bentons, it is hardly 
necessary to emphasize the folly and rashness of the pre- 
posterous undertaking of General Jackson to "horse- 
whip" Colonel Benton. Jackson had a fight with Jesse 
Benton at the Old Bell Tavern in Memphis, and got the 
best of it; but the threat to publicly cow-hide Tom Ben- 
ton was mere madness, for Jackson must have known, 
that Colonel Benton was every bit as game a man as Gen- 
eral Jackson. The results were so disastrous to the rash 
assailants that neither Coffee nor Jackson ever mani- 
fested the slightest inclination to renew hostilities. Jesse 
continued to say and publish whatever he pleased about 
Jackson; and Colonel Tom made peace only when Jack- 
son sought it. 

Those biographers who hint that Thos. H. Ben- 



146 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

ton left Tennessee because he was afraid of Andrew 
Jackson, show their lack of insight into character. 
Benton was as cool a man as ever faced danger; and 
Jackson was not the man to make a mistake of the same 
sort twice. He knew that in attempting to horse-whip 
Colonel Benton (as he had caned poor Swann) he had 
done a foolish thing; and for many years his friends 
knew better than to talk to him npon that impleasant 
subject. He had attempted an outrage upon a loyal 
friend who had just rendered him signal service, had got 
badly worsted in the attempt, and the only thing to do 
was to let the matter drop. Years afterwards, when the 
'reconciliation with Colonel Benton had removed the 
sting of the old quarrel, one of Jackson's intimates 
reminded him of his apparent inconsistency in making 
friends with a man who had fought him. 

The brave old fellow laughed good-humoredly, and 
as the lawyers say "distinguished the case." ^Yhen our 
SujDreme Court Judges want to decide a case differently 
from the way in which they decided a former one that 
seemed exactly similar, they draw a distinction between 
the one case and the other. Sometimes these distinctions 
are so fine that only the judicial eye can see them. Gen. 
Andrew Jackson, in like spirit, drew a distinction be- 
tween the Benton case and other apparently similar 
cases. He said, referring to the bullets shot into him on 
that occasion, "But that was honest lead!" which prob- 
ably means that Jackson felt he had done wrong in at- 
tacking Benton. If Andrew Jackson ever came nearer 
than this to making the admission that he had been 
wrong, in anything, this biographer is not aware of it. 

Knoxville, Tenn., June 28, 1907. 
Dear Mr. Watson: 

Your letter of the 26th received. I have never read the account 
Buell gives of the fight between the Bentons and Jackson. I resided 
in Washington during nearly the whole period of Buell's career as a 
newspaper writer, and his reputation for unreliability was such that 
when I saw that he had written a "Life of Jackson" I had no curi- 
osity to read it. It would have been characteristic of Buell to write 
anything of the Benton, or any other, episode in Jackson's career 
that would be new, or startling, or different to that given by other 
writers and which would attract attention to him or his book. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 147 

I have often talked with the late Judge Jos. C. Guild (author of 
"Old Times in Tennessee'') and other enthusiastic admirers of Jack- 
son, as well as the leading men who were not his admirers, of the 
fight referred to, and the universal voice was tliat Jesse Benton shot 
Jackson. This is the tradition in Tennessee about this fight, and the 
reason given why Stokely Hayes, Mi-s. J.'s nephew, turned to Jesse, 
and tried to kill him, rather than Tom. 

Yesterday I dined fifteen miles in the country with a mentally 
well-preserved man of 90 who had often seen Jackson. He was at 
Nashville when Jackson, much bent and enfeebled, made his last 
appearance in public, the occasion being with Van Buren when that 
wily politician made his Southern electioneering tour in the hope of 
capturing the 1844 nomination. My informant described the enthu- 
siasm of the crowd as immense, and said in mingling with the people 
he often heard persons say to acquaintances when they met them, 
"so you have come all the way to Nashville to see Mr. Van Buren;" 
to which the invariable reply was, "I care nothing for Van Buren, 
I came to see Jackson," or "Damn Mr. Van Bm-en, I would not give 
a cent to see him, I want to see Old Hickory." 

This reminded me that Mrs. Mary B. Wilcox, daughter of Andrew 
J. Donelson, told me that "father,'' as she called Jackson, was very 
fond of appearing in parades, and that he loved to dress well. She 
emphasized his love of fine apparel, whether in military uniform of 
civilian dress, and that never, except when physically too feeble to 
ride horseback, would he ride in a carriage. 

In reply to a question I asked as to whether she could tell me 
any anecdotes about Jackson, she said, "only one." On a trip in his 
carriage to Washington with Mrs. J., he stayed over night at the 

residence of at Kingsport. He was a Jackson man, an 

emigrant from Ireland, and a Presbyterian. He had a quick-witted, 
well-educated daughter, Eliza, who told that at the break- 
fast table she expressed to Mrs. J. the hope that she felt well, and 
had had a refreshing sleep after the long drive of the day before 
over a bad road. 

Aunt Rachel replied, "she had caught cold because Glnral had 
kicked the klver off." Probably, from this originated the story, as 
published by Jackson's enemies, that the good old Aunt Rachel said 
she "Kotched cold because the Ginral kicked the kiver off." As told 
by Miss the word caught was employed, and not kotched. 

Until I got the story in authentic form, I had supposed the whole 
to be fiction, or "Whig lie.'' I do not suppose the little incident 
worth publishing. 

I remember to have seen about 3 years ago, in the "Cincinnati 
Daily Commercial," the statement (editorially) that the only auto- 
graph letter of General Jackson's wife known to be in existence was 
in the archives of the Historical Society of Ohio at Columbus. 

It would be interesting if you could have a photo-lithograph copy 
of that letter in your Life of Jackson. Yours truly, 

JNO. B. BROWNLOW. 



148 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XI. 

At midnight on the 30th of September, Buchanan's 
Station, only four miles south of Nashville, was attacked 
by a party of about seven hundred Indians, composed 
partly of Shawnees, and partly of Creeks and Cherokees. 

"In this fort the families of some twenty-five of the 
settlers had taken refuge, but it was manned at the time 
by only fifteen riflemen, and its four block-houses seemed 
poorly able to resist so overwhelming a force of assail- 
ants. But among its defenders were the scout, Castle- 
man, and others of equal skill and bravery. The first 
alarm was given by the frightened cattle, which rushed 
wildly past the fort on the approach of the savages. The 
night was very dark, and, not to waste their powder, the 
garrison withheld their fire till the Indians were within 
ten paces of the buildings. Then a simultaneous dis- 
charge burst from the fort, and was replied to by a 
heavy and constant fire, which the savages kept up for 
an hour, never falling back to a greater distance, though 
one unbroken sheet of flame streamed from the port- 
holes and mowed them down by dozens. 

"The Indians had supposed the fort weakly defended, 
but were soon convinced that it was crowded with rifle- 
men. Every second minute a hat would appear at a 
port-hole as if to fire, and an Indian would lodge a bullet 
in its crown, but in another minute another hat would 
appear at the same port-hole and still the constant fire 
of the fort would go on without a moment's flagging. 
This constant fire, and showing of hats, was subsequently 
explained. More than thirty women were in the fort and 
a still larger number of children. There were also three 
or four rifles to each of the garrison. These the women 
loaded and handed with great rapidity up to the men, 
who also were re-enforced by Mrs. Buchanan, and sev- 
eral other women, who fired from the port-holes like 
male defenders. The 'show of hats' — which, from this 
circumstance, has become a national phrase — was made 




B 
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O 



s 
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2 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 149 

by the children displaying all the head-gear in the fort at 
the port-holes not manned by the garrison. 

''On several occasions the Indians attempted to set 
fire to the lower logs of the station, bnt every savage that 
ventured upon the rash act met a bullet from one of the 
bastions. At last a young brave, more bold than the rest, 
climbed to one of the roofs with a lighted torch in his 
hand, to fire a block-house. A well directed shot brought 
him instantly to the ground underneath one of the port- 
holes. As he lay there, mortally wounded, and his life 
blood fast flowing away, he applied his still burining 
brand to one of the lower logs, and, with his hard-return- 
ing breath, tried to fan it into a blaze to ignite the build- 
ing. Suddenly his head fell back, his torch dropped from 
his hand, and was extinguished in a pool of Tils own 
blood. But with his latest breath he urged on his fol- 
lowers. He was a young brave of the Running Water 
town of the Chicamaugas, named Chia-chatt-alla. 

''Inspired by the desperate courage of this young- 
brave, a score of savages now rushed forward with 
lighted brands to fire the fort; but every one was shot 
down before he had ignited the lower logs of the build- 
ing. Then the savage fire grew fiercer, and it became 
certain death for one of the garrison to appear for an 
instant at any of the port-holes, the fire being mainly 
directed at those openings. From the space of the cir- 
cumference of a foot, in the roof above the port-hole in 
the over-jutting, whence had proceeded the shots that 
killed the savages who had attempted to approach the 
walls, thirty Indian bullets were on the following day 
extracted. 

"Thus the conflict continued for an hour, when the 
solitary sentinel at the Nashville fort shouted through the 
woods that rescue was coming. The Indians heard it, and 
knew that it meant that Eobertson and his minute men 
would be upon them by daybreak. Suddenly their fire 
slackened, and they drew off from the fort, bearing away 
as was their custom, their dead and wounded, except such 
as lay dangerously near to the walls of the station. As 



150 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

they passed out of rifle-range, Captain Raines and five 
of his men rapidly approached the fort on horseback. He 
had heard the firing at his station two miles away and 
waiting for no re-enforrements, had hastened to the 
rescue with only the few who were with him at the 
moment. Soon others came in from Nashville and the 
nearby stations, and then the garrison ventured out and 
examined the ground around the buildings. Everywhere 
among the trodden bushes were trails showing where the 
dead had been dragged away, and scattered here and 
there were numerous pools of blood, where numbers had 
fallen, for, packed together as they were, the Indians 
had been a broad mark for the settlers' rifies. The 
slaughter had been terrible. Numbers of the wounded 
died on the retreat, and were buried in the forest, where 
their graves were subsequently discovered by the white 
people. 

''The leader of the attacking force, a Shawnee chief, 
was killed by the first fire of the garrison, as was also 
the White-Man-Killer, a brother of the noted Dragging 
Canoe, formerly head chief of the Chickamaugas. Other 
prominent chiefs of the Creeks and Cherokees fell during 
the action, and John Watts, the principal chief of the 
'lower towns' and the ablest man now among the Chero- 
kees, was so desperately wounded that he besought his 
warriors to end his sufferings by decapitation. Not one 
among the garrison was so much as wounded. And this 
successful defense against so overwhelming a force, was 
made by fifteen men and thirty women, battling behind 
weak walls for their own lives, and those of their chil- 
dren. Is it not true that we need to look no further than 
our own annals to find examples of the most exalted 
heroism?" 

The foregoing extract is made from "The Advance- 
Guard of Western Civilization," by James R. Gilmore. 

The author adds the following note in the appendix 
of his book : 

"My grandfather was in this fight, and he has fre- 
quently told me that Mrs. Sally Buchanan molded bullets 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 151 

on that occasion until after midnight, and at the break of 
day on the following morning gave birth to a son. That 
son — Moses Buchanan — died only last year in Franklin, 
Tennessee." 

In the preface to his interesting work, "The 
Winning of the West," Mr. Eoosevelt utterly rejects Gil- 
more as an authority, but this condemnation is perhaps 
too sweeping. The story of the fight at Buchanan Sta- 
tion was related to Gilmore by his grandfather, and must 
be substantially correct. If those who took part in fron- 
tier battles are not competent witnesses, how are we 
going to know what happened? 

While the number of the attacking party of Indians 
is doubtless exaggerated, and the recklessness with 
which they are said to have exposed themselves to the 
fire from the fort does not correspond at all with cus- 
tomary Indian tactics, still there can be no reasonable 
doubt that a large band of warriors swooped down upon 
the station, thinking id find an easy prey; and that they 
were beaten off, with heavy loss, by a mere handful of 
brave men and heroic women. 

The extract is valuable because of the glimpse it gives 
of life on the frontier. The men had to fight, the women 
had to fight, the children had to fight. In no other way 
could the encroaching whites hold the land from which 
the Indians were being driven. Men tried in this ordeal 
of constant peril, either perished or came forth with the 
same fullness of dominant, unconquerable manhood 
which made the Vikings the terror of the world. 

Give an army of such men to a natural fighter like 
Andrew Jackson, — and where was the army that could 
whip it? The whole world might have been searched in 
vain for the match, man to man, of the riflemen who were 
led to conquest by John Coffee, William Carroll, John 
Sevier, William Robertson, and Andrew Jackson. In the 
kind of fighting to which they were accustomed, they 
were invincible. 

The quality of his troops and the number, as well as 
the quality of his enemy must be taken into considera- 



152 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

tion when we yould measure the greatness of Jackson as 
a soldier. We should also have in mind, as a standard 
of comparison, the exploits of such other frontier leaders 
as George Rogers Clark, William Henry Harrison, 
Andrew Lewis, John Floyd and John Sevier. 

There is another thing which ought to he taken into 
consideration in weighing the relative merits of Jackson 
as an Indian fighter: he had the constant help of more 
Indians than any other man who ever fought Indians. 
Not only did friendly Indian scouts keep him constantly 
informed of the movements of the hostile bands, but he 
generally had so many of the friendly warriors in his 
army that they constituted about one-third of his force. 
It was his luck to begin war upon the Creeks at a time 
when the tribe was not only at bitter enmity with several 
other tribes, but when the Creek nation was divided 
against itself. Col. Benjamin Hawkins, the agent of the 
United States resident among the Creeks, was able to 
hold at least one-half of the nation to the policy of peace, 
and many of the Creek warriors fought with Jackson 
against their brethren. 

The following letter, for which I am indebted to my 
friend, Hon. J. E. D. Shipp, of Americus, Georgia, proves 
how much importance Jackson attached to this policy of 
hiring the Indians to fight the Indians: 

Saturday, Aug. 27, 1814. 
On Road to Mt. Vernon, Ala. 
Dear General: The enclosed will show you that we may count 
pretty well on our Choctaws. 

They say they are prepared to fight our red enemies. I have 
never asked them to fight the whites; when they have joined the 
army, they will fight alongside of your soldiers against white or 
red forces. Of this I have no doubt. 

Last evening I sent Capt. Dinkins, of the 3rd, who expressed a 
wish to be with us if the soldiers should be called out, and as cor- 
diality on such an occasion will be important, I wish heartily he 
may be sent for to conduct them, and I have ever since I knew him 
had a sincere friendship for him and I believe it is reciprocated. 
He is young, athletic, brave and enterprising. 

Respectfully and sincerely, 

Your obedient servant, 

JOHN M'KEE. 
P. S. — Money. Money. 
To Maj. Gen. Jackson. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 153 

When it is remembered that the Choctaws and Chero- 
kees also joined in with the troops of Georgia and Ten- 
nessee to fight the hostile parties of the Creek tribe, it 
will be seen how helpless were the odds against them. 

Still another fact should be borne in mind in estimat- 
ing the amount of credit to be awarded to Andrew Jack- 
son and other heroes of Indian wars. The red men had 
no commissariat and no means of organizing one. When 
a war-party was out, a certain number had to be detailed 
to make deer-drives, etc., to get the provisions for the 
rest. Indians had no supply trains, no wagons following 
with food for the warrior, no droves of beef cattle kept 
within easy reach; consequently, it was simply impos- 
sible for a large number of warriors to remain in the 
field any length of time. They had nothing to eat. Neces- 
sity compelled them to break up into small bands. And 
without any certainty as to food supply, military opera- 
tions of a systematic sort were out of the question. This 
controlling fact accounts for the irregularity of all 
Indian warfare. They bunched together to strike a 
sudden blow, and then, whether beaten or victorious, 
they had to break up, scattering to keep from starving. 

Poor creatures! What chance did they have to win 
the fight and keep their homes? None at all. Few of 
them had guns ; even these were inferior ; their supply of 
powder and balls was scant; they had no commissary; 
they were divided among themselves; three armies of 
the whites were about to take the field against them ; each 
of these three armies was larger than any force which 
they could bring together; their own plans were being 
betrayed by their own brethren ; and when they marched 
to battle they were met in the death-struggle by half their 
own tribe and by heavy contingents from the Choctaws 
and Cherokees. It was pitiful. 

General Claiborne, of Mississippi, was in the field 
with an army; General Floyd came across the Chatta- 
hoochee from Georgia with an army; and General Jack- 
son led so many Tennesseans and friendly Indians that 
his biggest difficulty during the whole Creek War was 
the feeding of his men. 

11 a j 



154 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The hostile Indians, it would seem, never did muster 
more than a thousand warriors for any one battle, while 
Jackson's army alone — not counting friendly Indians — 
ranged from two to five thousand. 



The Creek "War began with what is called the Massa- 
cre of Fort Mims. It was given the bad name of Massa- 
cre because the Indians gained what would have been for 
white men '*a famous victory." Even when the Sioux 
whipped General Custer on the open plains, we felt it 
necessary to call the battle a massacre; but when white 
men, in the Philippines climbed to the top of Mt. Dajo, 
rested their rifles on the rim of the crater, and from the 
safe shelter of this natural parapet fired down upon the 
natives huddled in the pit below, the butchery of the men 
and women and the children which followed was hailed 
by us as a glorious feat of arms, and our impulsive Presi- 
dent sent a message of congratulation to the victors. 
"The honor of the Flag" had been sustained, and the 
slaughter of women and children was excused upon 
grounds which probably created much merriment in hell. 

Why did the Indians attack Fort Mims? It is the 
same old story of all the Indian wars. When the natives 
of any land on earth are being crowded out, need we 
bother about the details which lead up to the inevitable 
clash! The invaders are ever the aggressors, and it 
resolves itself into the question as to whether one people 
have the right to dispossess another. As we were the in- 
vaders, and are now in peaceable possession, we might 
afford to be honest enough to admit that we ourselves 
jDrovoked the Indian wars. Whether the end justified the 
means is another question. 

When the Revolutionary W^ar was in progress and 
the British Ministry proposed to make use of the Indians 
against the Americans, it gave a shock to the high- 
minded Earl of Chatham (the elder Pitt), just as it gave 
a shock to Abraham Lincoln when Benj. Butler, of Mas- 
sachusetts, first suggested that the negroes be used in 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 155 

the Civil War against their former masters. The great 
English statesman and orator flamed out into an impas- 
sioned appeal to the House of Lords not to do the thing. 
With words that burn, with a hot indignation that even 
now makes the pulse leap, Lord Chatham implored the 
lay peers to condemn the unnatural and barbarous prop- 
osition of the Ministry. He called upon the peers spir- 
itual, the Bishops, '4o interpose the unsullied sanctity 
of their lawn; upon the learned judges to interpose the 
'purity of their ermine to save us from this pollution.' " 

With a voice like the note of a bugle, the grand old 
man appealed to the Lords to save England from the dis- 
grace of hiring red savages to make war upon England's 
own children in America. In the entire range of the 
world's literature there is not a specimen of impromptu 
eloquence that takes a loftier, nobler flight than this 
three-minute speech of the elder Pitt. In my own copy, 
the compiler adds a dry note which speaks volumes; 
^'This speech had no effect." 

Not a lay Lord, not a Judge, not a Bishop lifted a 
finger, and the immortality of honor for having made the 
protest against Ministerial infamy remained the undi- 
vided glory of Chatham. 

So it happened that when the War of 1812 begTin, the 
British fell into their old habit of stirring the red men 
of the woods to wage war upon the white men of the set- 
tlements. Money, whiskey, cheap finery, the prospect of 
revenge, were used to the best advantage by British 
agents ; and it required but little urging to fan into flames 
that constantly smouldering heap of border irritation. 

The celebrated Indian, Tecumseh, had for some years 
been at work on a plan which aimed at binding the vari- 
ous tribes into a Confederacy, taking away from the 
chiefs the authority to sell tribal land, and thus, by regu- 
lating sales of territory belonging to all the red men, 
removing one of the causes of trouble. So far as can now 
be learned, Tecumseh 's plan was highly patriotic, and 
not at all antagonistic to law-abiding whites. Too often 
it had been the case that designing white men, hungry for 



156 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Indian land, had played a few drunken or venal chiefs 
against the whole nation. In this way, "treaties" had 
been obtained, in which a handfnl of red men, tempted by 
trifling gifts or debauched on mean whiskey, had yielded 
to the whites vast hunting grounds absolutely necessary 
to the subsistence of the tribe. Such abuses bore with 
terrible hardship upon the victims, and when the whites 
sought to take the possession of these lands, the Indians 
did not always vacate without a bloody contest. 

Tecumseh was the last of the Indians who rose to the 
dignity of a statesman. He had a general plan, embrac- 
ing the entire Indian race ; and if the War of 1812 had not 
come to check his work, divert his course and take his 
life, it is possible that the Indian Question might have 
been settled by the earlier setting apart of some larger 
Indian Territory, with a "Dawes Act" passed nearly a 
hundred years ago, at the instance of Tecumseh, instead 
of being enacted, in our own day, through the influence 
of "Bright Eyes" — the beautiful and intellectual daugh- 
ter of a Western Chief. 

The events leading up to the Massacre of Fort Mims 
were closely and logically connected. Tecumseh had 
come down from his home in the North-west to visit the 
Creeks of Alabama in 1811 ; and in the following year the 
Creeks sent a mission of half a dozen warriors into the 
North-west. The "talk" which Little Warrior and his 
brother messengers were sent to carry was duly deliv- 
ered to the Chickasaws, and the delegation should then 
have gone back to Alabama. Instead of this, the Little 
Warrior and his band joined Tecumseh at Maiden, and 
took part in bloody work on the River Raison. On their 
return home, Little Warrior and his band came upon a 
small settlement of the whites near the mouth of the 
Ohio, and wiped it out in a senseless, brutal, indiscrimi- 
nate massacre. From his own point of view. Little War- 
rior had done a deed to be proud of; and the remainder 
of his journey homeward was full of noisy boasting. The 
whites naturally clamored for the punishment of the 
murderers. Benjamin Hawkins, the United States 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 157 

Agent to the Indians, put a formal demand on the chiefs 
to that effect, and the chiefs honored it at once. Every 
member of the Little Warrior band was condemned, exe- 
cutioners were set upon them, and within a few days the 
last one of the assassins had been tomahawked or shot. 
Then "hell broke loose" in the Creek nation. Furiously 
resenting the action of the chiefs in yielding to the de- 
mands of the whites, the younger warriors sprang to 
arms, the chiefs fled for their lives, and the war-whoop 
rang through the vast forests of Alabama. 

The great need of the Indians was guns and ammuni- 
tioli. They were badly supplied with the former ; of the 
latter they had almost none. But there was Pensacola 
and the friendly Spaniards — to Pensacola they would go 
for ammunition. Accordingly, a band of warriors was 
chosen, several hundred dollars were collected, and the 
expedition set out for Pensacola. The Spanish Governor 
dared not refuse the demand of these three liundred des- 
perate Indians ; and besides, they presented to him a let- 
ter which had been found upon the body of the Little 
Warrior. This letter was written by a British officer at 
Maiden to the Spanish officials at Pensacola. Partly 
from fear of the Indians, and partly because of this let- 
ter, the Spanish Governor gave the Creeks a small sup- 
ply of guns, powder and ball. 

News of the expedition to Pensacola spread. To the 
whites it seemed a matter of self-preservation to attack 
the band of Creeks on its return trip and to capture the 
ammunition. The white settlers in the country above 
Mobile hastily got together and, under the lead of two 
Creek half-breeds, Dixon Bailey and Daniel Beasley, 
made the attempt to cut off the Pensacola party as it 
passed through on its way homeward. The attack was 
made at a place known as Burnt Corn. At first, the In- 
dians broke and the whites captured the pack-mules car- 
rying the powder; but Peter McQueen, leader of the 
Indian band, rallied his men, put the whites to rout, and 
Te-captured the mules. 

Throughout the length and breadth of the Alabama 



158 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

country, a panic of the white settlers ensued. Farms 
were abandoned, homes were deserted and every man, 
woman and child fled for dear life to the forts. In a short 
while these scattered stations, which were made up of 
block-houses enclosed in palisades, were packed full of 
refugees. AVild with rage and success, the hostile Creeks 
ravaged the country setting fire to everything that would 
burn, and slaughtering every white person that came 
within reach. Fort Mims was one of these stockade forts, 
and like all the others, it was soon crammed with its 
crowd of refugees. Over five hundred human beings, 
mostly whites, had fled into this little pen; and among 
these were two men who brought death upon the others. 

Dixon Bailey and Daniel Beasley, after their failure 
at Burnt Corn, had thrown themselves into Fort Mims; 
and, therefore, the vengeful Creeks had a special reason 
for marking Fort Mims for destruction. Strange to say, 
it does not appear to have occurred to the defenders of 
the Fort that the presence of Bailey and Beasley gave 
them particular cause to be watchful and ready. The 
general state of the country was enough to put a soldier 
of common prudence on notice that the gates of the Fort 
ought, at least, to be in a condition to be easily shut. 
Even a careless garrison would have gone through the 
form of posting pickets and sending out an occasional 
scout. But at Fort Mims they did not even come up to 
the measure of ordinary carelessness, much less that of 
common prudence. They allowed the big gate to stand 
open until the rains washed the sand against it, so that 
it required time and labor to shut it. They posted 
no pickets and they sent out no scouts. And when their 
negro cow-driver came running from the woods into the 
fort crying "Indians! Indians!" — they whipped the 
negro ! 

True, they had sent out a party at the first alarm 
to look for the enemy ; but inasmuch as this party saw no 
Indians, they voted the negro a liar, took no extra pre- 
cautions and let the gate stand as it was, with a sand- 
drift caked against it. And when the troublesome cow- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 159 

driver again came running in, crying ''Indians! 
Indians!" patience ceased to ve a virtue, and the negro 
was whipped for giving a false alarm. The next time the 
negro fled from Indians in the woods, he had better sense 
than to run into Fort Mims. He saw Indians in the 
woods again the very next day after he was flogged, and 
he ran as fast as on the day before, but he ran to Fort 
Pierce, two miles away. 

At noon, on a broiling day of August, 1812, the drums 
beat for dinner in Fort Mims. Five hundred white men 
and children heard the ever welcome summons; and 
throughout the paled-in enclosure where they had hud- 
dled for protection, went up those familiar and cheerful 
sounds that are heard when tired and hungry people pre- 
pare for the feast. But, alas ! they were to eat no dinner 
that day, nor any other day whatsoever. The drums 
called to diner, but the war-whoop which came pealing 
with its blood-curdling ferocity from the woods close by 
announced another feast, — the feast of Death. 

God! What a scene of horror it must have been as 
those ten hundred painted savages came bursting from 
the underbrush, on a dead run for the open gate ! What 
a sickening sense of their reckless folly must have 
weighed them down ! 

To the gate! To the gate! Shut the gate! For life 
and that which is dearer than life, SHUT THE GATE! 

Oh, how desperately the white leader, Beasley, runs 
to the gate, tugs at it, struggling to' lift it clear of the 
sand-drift that holds it fast. Too late! Even as he pulls 
and lifts at the gate, the Indians are upon him. He is 
beaten down, wounded unto death, crawls behind the 
gate, and dies. 

Through the opening, streams the yelling savage 
horde, and the outer enclosure of the Fort is lost. With 
musket and tomahawk and scalping knife, they kill as 
they go. But there is the inner entrance of the Fort, and 
the whites flee to' this. Through the holes in the line of 
pickets they can shoot down the enemy in the outer en- 



160 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

closure. They can also break their way through the 
roofs of the buildings of the inner part of the Fort, and 
enfilade the savages below. This is bravely done. After 
the first panic, the defenders of the Fort rise to the crisis. 
The men die fighting. Even the boys and women fight, 
and die fighting. For three hours they hold the Fort. 
They have lost many lives, but they have strewed the 
ground with dead Indians. About three o'clock in the 
afternoon the red men draw off, tired of the bloody task ; 
but Weatherford comes from the forest, inspires them 
with fresh vigor, leads them in person to the attack, sets 
fire to the buildings, and soon the whole Fort is theirs. 
Then comes a "slaughter grim and great." 

The victory at Fort Mims was abused by the 
deliriously excited Indians, just as victory after a hard 
fight is almost always abused; but the battle itself was 
a fair fight, so far as I can see. The Indians lost almost 
as many as the whites, — so many, indeed, that they could 
not muster the energy to follow their custom of burying 
all their dead. Of the people within the Fort, all the 
women and children perished; some fifteen white men 
broke through and escaped ; the negroes were carried off 
to become slaves to the Indians. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 161 



CHAPTER XII. 

Far and wide, the news of the "Massacre of Fort 
Mims" blew the angry passions of the whites into the 
fiercest flames. Nobody stopped to consider the provo- 
cations which had been given the Indians by the whites, 
on the Northwestern frontier: the Americans saw the 
immediate cause, — only the evil promptings of General 
Proctor and other British officers. The whites did not 
see and allow for the remoter but truer cause, — 
the land-grabbing treaties by which Gen. William 
Henry Harrison had used a handful of Crees, 
Miamis, Wickapoos, Pottowatamies, (described by him- 
self as "the most depraved wretches on earth") to 
deprive the better class and larger number of Indians of 
the only hunting ground they had left — the valley of the 
Wabash. Not content with one so-called treaty which cut 
into the very heart of the Indian country for fifty miles. 
General Harrison negotiated another "treaty" which 
took three million acres more. And General Harrison 
knew perfectly well that the Indians whom he plied with 
mean whiskey, cheap gewgaws, and petty sums of money, 
had no authority to sell this land, which was absolutely 
necessary to the tribes as a source of living. When he 
took the Wabash valley, he knew that the Indians would 
have to fight for their hunting grounds, or die of starva- 
tion. Knowing this, he did not wait to be attacked by the 
red men, but marched into their own country, beyond the 
limits of the treaty land ; and thus brought on the shabby 
little skirmish which was shouted through a National 
Campaign, as the "Battle of Tippecanoe." 

Harrison had obligingly camped at a spot selected for 
him by some of the Indians whom he had come to kill; 
and just before daybreak the next morning the Indians 
attacked his camp, threw it into confusion, and would 
have stampeded Harrison's army, had it not been for 
Colonel Davies and his Kentucky regiment. The stand 
made by these trained Indian fighters saved the day. 



162 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Colonel Davies lost his life, and Harrison gained a mili- 
tary renown which he had done little to deserve. 

Just as bogus treaties, made by grasping white men 
with such chiefs as they could intimidate or debauch, 
were at the bottom of most of the Indian fights in the 
Northwest, so it was the bogus treaty which was ever the 
cause of Indian troubles in the South. The United States 
Government, as a rule, had little difficulty in securing 
from the red men, in a peaceable way, such territory as 
the Federal authorities considered necessary to the 
gradual expansion of the white people. But the Govern- 
ment could never move fast enough to satisfy the indi- 
vidual home-seekers, or land-grabbers; and the States, 
themselves, were often too slow to suit their own hungry 
citizens. 

Thus in Tennessee, the United States Government, at 
times, had to sternly eject the whites from Indian lands; 
and in the State of Georgia, the Governor had to oust the 
Squatter Colony of Gen. Elijah Clarke, which had 
crossed the Oconee, going Westward, a little too soon. 
Generally, however, the State authorities were willing to 
make good, by force, the aggressive advance of the white 
"borderers;" and these aggressive advances too often 
resembled mere predatory encroachments. 

But, as already stated, the whites lost no time consid- 
ering the underlying causes of the Indian outbreak, or in 
suggesting measures by which further bloodshed might 
be avoided. 

The "Massacre of Fort Mims" was a slogan which 
drowned all sounds save those of war. Georgians, Mis- 
sissippians and Tennesseans sprang to arms, burning for 
revenge. The latter State alone authorized the enlist- 
ment of an army of 3,500 men, — a force out of all propor- 
tion to the actual necessities of the case. 

Governor William Blount and Major-General William 
Cocke went out to the Hermitage to confer with the other 
Major-General, Andrew Jackson, who was still flat of his 
back from those Benton bullets. At his bedside, the sit- 
uation was talked over, and plans agreed upon. Jack- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 163 

son's wounds had begun to heal; and he thought that by 
the time the troops could be mustered into service he 
would be able to reach the place of rendezvous, and to 
take command. 

Consequently, everything necessary to the purpose 
was done, just as fast as circumstances would allow. 
Governor Blount lent all the power and resources of his 
position; General Cocke exerted every energy in East 
Tennessee to have men and munition ready ; John Coif ee, 
William Carroll, John Reid, William B. Lewis, were full 
of zeal and well-directed activity; and in due time the 
army which the Legislature of Tennessee had called for, 
was in camp on the Southern border of the State, ready 
for its plunge into the wilderness which lay between them 
and the Gulf of Mexico. This country was known as the 
Mississippi Territory, and it included the present State 
of Alabama. 

Within the boundaries of this immense domain, lay 
the home of the Creeks. Here were their corn lands, 
their bean patches, their orchards, their grazing grounds, 
their scattered cabins, their villages, and the vast 
stretches of unbroken forest in which they hunted. Col. 
Benjamin Hawkins, the friend of Washington, had lived 
among these people many years, and like many of the 
white men who knew the better class of Indians, he was 
fond of them, sympathized with them, and was earnest in 
his efforts to improve and protect them. He had intro- 
duced among the tribes many of the methods of the 
whites. In farming and in the simpler forms of manu- 
facturing, the red people had shown a readiness to learn. 
In a general way, it may be stated that the Creek Nation 
which Jackson invaded and destroyed, was not a nest of 
sangTiinary savages, but was a settled community, well 
ordered in many respects, governed by fixed customs 
which revealed fairly correct ideals of public and private 
morality, — sustaining itself in a legitimate manner by 
agricultural pursuits and by hunting on its own land. 
Many of the Creeks lived in good houses, owned superb 
farms, and had negro slaves. Numerous herds of cattle 



164 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

grazed in the open glades of tlie forest, or fed in the 
swamps where the "maiden cane" kept them fat. Droves 
of hogs thrived on beech and pine mast, and upon the 
acorns of the oaks. 

There can be little doubt that had the Americans 
taken as much pains to keep up friendly relations 
with these people as Colonel Nicholls and other 
British emissaries took to ^^egg them on" into hostilities, 
both halves of the Creek Nation would have stayed at 
home, minding their own business, during the War of 
1812. 

Menaced by three armies from three States, at prac- 
tically the same time, the war methods of the Indians 
were even more unsystematic than usual. They followed 
up no victory, and they made no use of the many advan- 
tages of position which nature gave them. After their 
great success at Fort Mims, they were expected to swoop 
down upon Mobile, but they did nothing. Instead of 
planting ambuscades for the advancing whites, as in the 
Braddock and St. Clair campaigns, they either fought in 
the open, or waited to be assaulted by overwhelming 
numbers. They fought like tigers, but without sense. In 
nearly every engagement, they gave to the whites the 
choice of time and place. With the utmost heroism, they 
battled with the Mississippians of General Claiborne at 
Holy Ground; with the Tennesseans at Tallushatches, 
Talladega, Emuckfau, Enatochopco, and Horse-Shoe 
Bend ; but in none of these conflicts excepting Camp Defi- 
ance, were they equal in numbers to the whites. In other 
respects, they were at a hopeless disadvantage, for their 
guns were few and inferior, and their supply of ammuni- 
tion scanty. 

As to commissary supplies, some idea of the disad- 
vantages under which the Indians labored may be gath- 
ered from the fact that Weatherford, the Indian Chief, 
evidently lost the golden opportunity of the decisive cam- 
paign by having to halt two days, while his warriors, 
turned hunters, were out in the distant woods, making 
*'deer drives" to get food for Weatherford 's "army." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 165 

After many preliminary troubles, growing out of 
questions of supply and discipline, the Tennessee forces 
struck the red men at Tallushatches. 

The Indians were surprised by General Coffee, who 
outnumbered them more than two to one, and were de- 
feated with great slaughter. This, the first fight of the 
campaign, was of incalculable value to General Jackson. 
It inspired his own troops with confidence, while it cor- 
respondingly discouraged the Creeks. Many years after- 
wards, in pronouncing a eulogy upon General Coffee, 
then dead, Gen. Wm. Carroll declared that he would 
rather have been the victor of Tallushatches than of any 
battle of the Creek War. 

Following Coffee 's success at Tallushatches came that 
of General Jackson himself, at Talladega. Outnumber- 
ing the red men two to one, fighting in the open with 
every advantage that soldiers could decently ask, the 
Tennesseans mowed down the Indians with sickening 
thoroughness. Five hundred red men, and only twenty 
whites, were slain on these two fields; and when it is 
remembered that both sides fought in the open, these 
figures tell the tale of Indian disadvantage. Indeed, the 
greater number of Jackson's men were wounded, not 
with bullets, but with arrows' 

By the side of one of the squaws shot down at Tallu- 
shatches, was found a living babe. The arms of the dead 
mother still embraced her child. Touched by this ghastly 
sight. General Jackson asked the Indian prisoners to 
take charge of the little one and rear it. They sullenly 
refused. ' ' You have killed all its kinsfolk ; kill it, too. " 

But the General would not listen to anything like 
that ; and, having the child taken to his own tent, he got a 
negro woman (one of the captives), to nurse it during the 
remainder of the campaign. Then the little Indian was 
taken to the Hermitage, where he grew to manhood. He 
died there of consumption, soon after being apprenticed 
to a harness-maker in Nashville. 

It is always interesting to hear the story of a battle, 
told by one of the privates. In these two actions of Tal- 



166 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

lushatches and Talladega, the celebrated David Crockett 
took part. He had volunteered, at the first summons, 
and was serving as a common soldier. One of the bravest 
men that ever lived and one of nature's noblemen besides, 
his simple story of these two battles is in curious contrast 
to the vain-glorious accounts given by the hero-worship- 
pers. As you read his plain and unpretentious narrative, 
icmember that the writer was a soldier who might have 
been the lieutenant of Leonidas, — for he was one of the 
heroes of the Alamo. 

• "We had also a Cherokee colonel, Dick Brown, and 
some of his men with us. When we got near the town we 
divided ; one of our pilots going with each division. And 
so we passed on each side of the town, keeping near to it 
until our lines met on the far side. We then closed up at 
both ends, so as to surround it completely; and then we 
sent Captain Hammond's company of rangers to bring 
on the affray. He had advanced near the town, when the 
Indians saw him, and they raised a yell, and came run- 
ning at them like so many red devils. The main army 
was now formed in a hollow square around the town, and 
they pursued Hammond till they came in reach of us. We 
then gave them a fire and they returned it, and then ran 
back into their town. We began to close on the town by 
making our files closer and closer, and the Indians soon 
saw they were our property. So most of them wanted us 
to take them prisoners; and their squaws and all would 
run and take hold of any of us they could, and give them- 
selves up. I saw seven squaws take hold of one man 
which made me think of the Scriptures. So I hollered out 
the Scriptures were fulfilling; that there were seven 
women holding to one man's coat tail. But I believe it 
was a hunting shirt all the time. We took them all pris- 
oners that came out to us in this way; but I saw some 
warriors run into a house until I counted forty-six of 
them. 

"We pursued them until we got near the house, 
when we saw a squaw sitting in the door, and she placed 
her feet against the bow she had in her hand, and then 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 167 

took an arrow, and raising to her feet, she drew with all 
her might and let fly at us, and she killed a man, whose 
name I believe was Moore. He was a lieutenant, and his 
death so enraged us all, that she was fired on, and had at 
least twenty balls blown through her. This was the first 
man I ever saw killed with a bow and arrow. We now 
shot them like dogs; and then set the house on fire, and 
burned it up with the forty-six warriors in it. 

''I recollect seeing a boy who was shot down near the 
house. His arm and thigh were broken, and he was so 
near the burning house that the grease was stewing out 
of him. In this situation he was still trying to crawl 
along; but not a murmur escaped him, though he was 
only about twelve years old. So sullen is the Indian, 
when his dander is up, that he had sooner die than make 
a noise, or ask for quarters." 

That is Colonel Crockett's story of the ''Battle of 
Tallushatches" which General Carroll glorified as the 
most important victory of tjie ''Creek War." Colonel 
Crockett further relates : 

, ' ' The number that we took prisoners, being added to 
the number we killed, amounted to one hundred and 
eighty-six ; though I don 't remember the exact number of 
either. We had five of our men killed. We then returned 
to our camp at which our fort was erected, and known by 
the name of Fort Strother. No provisions had yet 
reached us, and we had now been for several days on 
half rations. However, we went back to our Indian town 
on the next day, when many of the carcasses of the In- 
dians were still to be seen. They looked very awful, for 
the burning had not entirely consumed them, but had 
given them a terrible appearance, at least what remained 
of them. 

' "It was somehow or other found out that the 
house had a potato cellar under it, and immediate exami- 
nation was made, for we were all as hungry as wolves. 
We found a fine chance of potatoes in it, and hunger com- 
pelled us to eat them though I had a little rather not, if I 
could have helped it, for the oil of the Indians we had 



168 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

burned up the day before, had run down on them and 
they looked like they had been stewed with fat meat. ' ' 

This picture of Tennessee Christians eating potatoes 
cooked in the flames of the red man's house, and stewed 
in the grease which had oozed from the red man's body, 
is one of the most ghastly incidents furnished by the 
records of ' ' glorious war. ' ' 

. Next comes Colonel Crockett's account of the Battle 
of Talladega: 

" In an hour we were all ready, and took up the line of 
march. We crossed the Coosa river, and went on in the 
direction of Fort Talladega. When we arrived near the 
place, we met eleven hundred painted warriors, the very 
choice of the Creek Nation. They encamped near the 
fort, and had informed the friendly Indians who were in 
it, that if they didn't come out, and fight with them 
against the whites, they would take their fort and all 
their ammunition and provision. The friendly party 
asked three days to consider it, and agreed that, if on the 
third day they didn't come out ready to fight with them, 
they might take their fort. Thus they put them off. Then 
they immediately started their runner to General Jack- 
son, and he and the army pushed over, as I have just 
before stated. 

"The camp of warriors had their spies out and dis- 
covered us coming some time before we got to the fort. 
They then went to the friendly Indians, and told them 
Captain Jackson was coming, and had a great many fine 
horses, and blankets, and gims, and everything else, and 
if they would come out and help to whip him and to take 
his plunder, it should all be divided with those in the 
fort. They promised that when Jackson came they would 
come out and help to whip him. 

"It was about an hour by the sun in the morning 
when we got near the fort. We pere piloted by friendly 
Indians and divided as we had done on a former occa- 
sion, so as to go to the right and left of the fort, and, 
consequently, of the warriors who were camped near 
it. Our lines marched on as before, till they met in 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 169 

front, and then closed in the rear, forming again into a 
hollow square. We then sent on old Major Russell with 
his spy company, to bring on the battle ; Captain Evans ' 
company went also. 

• ' ' When they got near the fort, the top of it was 
lined with the friendly Indians, crying as loud as they 
could roar, 'How-dy-do, brother, how-dy-do!' They 
kept this up till Major Russell had passed by the fort, 
and was moving on towards the warriors. They were 
all painted as red as scarlet, and were just as naked as 
they were born. They had concealed themselves under 
the bank of a branch that ran partly around the fort, 
in the manner of a half-moon. Russell was going right 
into their circle, for he couldn't see them, while the 
Indians on the top of the fort were trying every plan to 
show him his danger. But he couldn't understand them. 

'*'At last, two of them jumped from it and ran and 
took his horse by the bridle, and pointing to where they 
were, told him there were thousands of them lying under 
the bank. This brought them to a halt, and about this 
moment the Indians fired on them, and came rushing 
forth like a cloud of Egyptian locusts, and screaming like 
all the young devils had been turned loose, with the old 
devil of all at their head. Russell's company quit their 
horses and took into the fort, and their horses ran up to 
our line, which was then in full view. The warriors then 
came yelling on, meeting us, and continued until they 
were within shot of us, when we fired and killed a consid- 
erable number of them. 

*'They fought with guns and also with bows and 
arrows; but at length they made their escape through 
a part of our line which was made up of drafted 
militia, which broke ranks and they passed. We lost 
fifteen of our men, as brave fellows as ever lived or 
died. We buried them all in one grave, and started back 
to our fort ; but before we got there, two more of our men 
died of wounds they had received, making our total loss 
seventeen good fellows in that battle. ' ' 



12 a j 



170 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The effect of these victories was to greatly dis- 
courage the Indians and to incline them to submission. 
The Hillibees sued for peace. Their messenger was told 
that they "must furnish evidence of their sincerity by 
surrendering prisoners and property taken from the 
Whites and from the friendly Creeks; and the insti- 
gators of the War and those Indians who had slain white 
men, must be surrendered. The latter must and will be 
made to feel the force of our resentment. Long shall 
they remember Fort Mims in bitterness and tears." 

The messenger of the Hillibees departed from Jack- 
son's camp, but was never able to deliver his message. 
While he had been on his mission of peace, other Ten- 
nessee troops had fallen upon these Indians, who were 
totally unprepared to resist an attack, and had burned 
their villages, killed their warriors, and captured two 
hundred and fifty women and children. 

To the Indians, this seemed to be an act of the black- 
est perfidy and of the most savage ferocity. In effect, 
they were destroyed while asking to be permitted to sur- 
render. Waving the flag of truce, they were mercilessly 
shot down ; sitting peacefully in their homes awaiting an 
answer to their prayers for mercy, they saw their towns 
given to the flames, wives saw husbands weltering in 
blood, and dying husbands saw wives and children 
dragged off into captivity. 

Of course, General Jackson was in no manner respon- 
sible for this awful chapter in the Creek War. The vari- 
ous officers in command had not previously campaigned 
together; the troops were raw levies of undisciplined 
men; the difficulties of obtaining supplies were extremely 
great, and therefore, one of the natural results of the 
case was, that each commander was forced by his own 
necessities to act independently. While General Jack- 
son's command was almost starving at Fort Strother, the 
troops under General White and General Cocke were 




General Andrew Jackson 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 171 

equally destitute in their camp on the Coosa. General 
Jackson, who was the senior in command, was eager to 
have General Cocke join him, believing that the latter 
could bring supplies sufficient for both detachments. But 
General Cocke, being in as sorry a plight as General 
Jackson, realized that his junction with Jackson simply 
meant an aggravation of the distress at Fort Strother. 

General White, who was a subordinate officer under 
the immediate command of General Cocke, was placed in 
a most embarrassing situation. By General Jackson, he 
was ordered to hasten to the protection of Fort Strother, 
from which General Jackson was about to move upon 
Talladega. But on the same day, there came to General 
"White, from General Cocke, his immediate superior, an 
order to join him in a march upon the Creek settlements 
on the Tallapoosa. General White disregarded the 
instructions of General Jackson, and obeyed those of 
General Cocke. The Tallapoosa towns were attacked 
and destroyed, and the Hillibees almost exterminated. 
Jackson was thrown into a furious rage with both 
White and Cocke, and the surviving Indians continued 
their desperate struggle with the energy of intense 
resentment. 

Upon General Cocke, and upon General White, fell 
the full weight of General Jackson 's wrath. Had he been 
able to have got his hands upon General White, there is 
much reason to believe that this officer would have been 
court-martialed and shot. As to General Cocke, no 
explanation could satisfy General Jackson, and before the 
Creek War was over. General Cocke was arrested at the 
Tiead of his troops, when he was in the very act of endeav- 
oring, by patriotic appeal, to arouse them to a sense of 
their duty. The humiliation was so great, and the arrest, 
itself, appears to have been so utterly unjust, that Gen- 
eral Cocke retired from the service. He demanded a trial 
by court-martial, and, although the court was composed 
of officers who were entirely friendly to General Jack- 
son, General Cocke was acquitted. 

Much is said, in all of the biographies of Jackson, of 



172 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the mutinies in his camp and of the disorderly conduct of 
his troops. It would seem but fair to the private soldiers 
to let their side of the case be known. 

Expeditions against the Indians had generally been 
conducted on the volunteer plan, and without any strict 
regard to regular military discipline. In open order, they 
marched and fought ; and until they were in sight of the 
enemy, very little restraint of the soldier was ever prac- 
tised. The victorious riders, who galloped with the gal- 
lant John Sevier, on a hundred raids, had never been sub- 
jected to the humiliations, privations, severities and 
rigidities of discipline. The men who had followed George 
Clark, those who followed General Lewis, those who 
fought with Daniel Boone, those who marched with Rob- 
ertson, those who won the victories of Elijah Clark — even 
those who made that famous ride to King's Mountain and 
turned the tide of the Revolutionary War — were men who 
rallied when the word was sent around in the back-woods 
settlements and towns. They were ready volunteers who 
came at the call of some popular leader. Through the 
scattered towns and through the woods to each solitary 
cabin went the galloping rider who carried the summons 
to battle and named the place of rendezvous. It was the 
quick raising of a volunteer force which responded to 
the call much as the Highlanders had leaped to arms 
when the fiery cross sped onward through hamlet to hut 
— a signal from the Chieftain to the clan. 

Now, General Jackson had the instincts of a born sol- 
dier for discipline. Perhaps, for those times, he might 
be called a martinet, for not only in the presence of the 
enemy, but on the march and in the camp, General Jack- 
son 's idea was that strict military discipline should be 
maintained. This being unusual, was, of course, irksome 
to the wild, free, independent characters who made up 
his army. Whether or not he gained a single advantage 
in the Creek War from all of his struggles to enforce his 
own ideas of strict discipline, may well be doubted. The 
kind of warfare in which he was engaged could probably 
have been carried on just as effectively under the earlier 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 173 

methods of Sevier, Robertson, Lewis and Clark; at any 
rate, none of the Indian fighters ever had so much trouble 
with their own men as was experienced by Andrew Jack- 
son. The chief source of the troubles with the army was 
that his men were well-nigh famished; another was that 
he insisted on holding them in the wilderness, starving, 
after their terms of service, according to the letter of 
enlistment, had expired. One construction was placed 
upon the terms of enlistment by the General, and another 
by the private soldier. 

An impartial investigation of the Act of Congress 
and of the various conditions of enlistment will con- 
vince any intelligent reader that the soldiers were 
right, and that the General was wrong. Of course, his 
motive was noble and patriotic; but his purpose was 
to finish the job while he was at it. From his point of 
view, it was better for the soldier himself, as well as for 
the soldier's family, and for the soldier's neighbor and 
fellow-citizens that being already in the field and accum- 
tomed to the service, he should stay it out, and thus ren- 
der unnecessary another army and another campaign. 
Each being right from his own standpoint, there was a 
bitter struggle, prolonged and most demoralizing 
between the Chief and his men. 

The books give many anecdotes in illustration of 
Jackson's bull-dog tenacity of purpose and his desperate 
daring in checking the desertions, suppressing mutiny 
and holding his army together by main force. No one 
will doubt that in such an emergency General Jackson 
rose to the crisis and displayed every resource of inflex- 
ible resolution and intrepid courage. . Yet the upshot of 
the whole matter was that one brave man could not hold 
together several thousand brave men who were equally 
determined, and who were equally honest in their opinion 
that they had the right to go home. The net result was 
that they went home. At one time General Jackson was 
left in his camp almost alolie. Davy Crockett, who was 
one of the soldiers of Jackson 's army, gives the following 
account of what actually happened, and it seems to this 



174 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

writer that Davy Crockett's word is good autliority for 
anything which he positively states, as a fact which he 
himself knows to be true. 

>'We now remained at the fort a few days, but no pro- 
vision came yet, and we were all likely to perish. The 
weather also began to get very cold ; and our clothes were 
nearly worn out, and horses getting very feeble and poor. 
Our officers proposed to General Jackson to let us return 
home and get fresh horses and fresh clothing, so as to be 
better prepared for another campaign, for our sixty days 
had long been out, and that was the time we entered for. 

''But the General 'took the responsibility' on himself, 
and refused. We were, however, determined to go. With 
this, the General issued his orders against it. But we 
began to fix for a start, as ^.Tovisions were too scarce. 
The General went and placed his cannon on a bridge we 
had to cross, and ordered out his regulars and drafted 
men to keep us from crossing. But when the militia 
started to guard the bridge, they would hollow back to 
us to bring their knapsacks along when we came, for 
they wanted to go as bad as we did. 

"We got ready and moved on till we came near the 
bridge where the General's men were all strung along on 
both sides. But we all had our flints ready picked, and 
our guns ready primed, that if we were fired on we might 
fight our way through, or all die together. When we 
came still nearer the bridge we heard the guards cocking 
their guns, and we did the same. But, after all, we 
marched boldly on, and not a gun was fired nor a life lost. 
When we had passed, no further attempt was made to 
stop us; but the General said we were the ' damned 'st vol- 
unteers he had ever seen in his life ; that we would volun- 
teer and go out and fight, and then at our pleasure would 
volunteer to go home again in spite of the devil.' But we 
went on, and near Huntsville we met a reinforcement who 
were going on to join the army. It consisted of a regi- 
ment of volunteers, and was under the command of some 
one whose name I can't remember. They were sixty-day 
volunteers. ' ' 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 175 

Yet, no incident in his career so thoroughly illustrates 
General Jackson's mastery over men and circumstances 
than does this contest with his mutinous troops, with 
famine, sickness, and with a reluctant Governor, who did 
not wish to call for another army. Jackson himself, it 
will be remembered, had arisen from a sick bed to go to 
the war. His unhealed wound would not allow him to put 
his arm through his coa^ sleeve when he mounted his 
horse to go to the front. At no time during the campaign 
was he a strong man. Frequently he was prostrated by 
weakness and suffering. Of course, his physical condi- 
tion had much to do with the irritability of his temper. 
It may be conceded that his clashes with his subordinate 
officers might have been avoided. Some of his troubles 
with his own men need not have occurred. His treatment 
of General Cocke seems peculiarly harsh and unfair, but 
above all of these faults of temper and management rises 
his sublime courage and his Spartan-like devotion to what 
he understood to be his duty. 

When the men whom he had led from the settlements 
into the wilderness turned their backs on him to go 
home, he virtually said, "I will stay in the woods alone 
and appeal to Tennessee to send other men to my sup- 
port!" When Governor Willie Blount shows reluctance 
to levy more troops, doubting his authority and ques- 
tioning the advisability of such a step, it is Jackson who 
writes a powerful letter from his camp in the wilderness 
which beats down the will of the Governor. Another 
proclamation is issued, another army is raised, and in a 
short time there goes marching toward Fort Strother an 
overwhelming force of new men. 

The new levies, however, would only consent to act for 
a short time. Therefore, General Jackson took these 
short-termers and made what is usually called his "raid," 
or "excursion," as the General himself called it, from 
Fort Strothers into the Indian country. There were some 
skirmishes of no great consequence. The Indians did not 
seriously contest the field; but it would seem that as Gen- 
eral Jackson was withdrawing toward his own camp at 



176 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Fort Strother, and was crossing Enotachopco Creek, the 
Indians fell upon him, threw his men into confusion, and 
for a while seemed to be on the point of winning a decided 
victory. The steadiness of Colonel Carroll saved the day, 
just as the firmness of General Coffee had contributed so 
much to the success won in the other skirmishes of the 
expedition. 

. Concerning the surprise attack at Enotachopco Creek, 
David Crockett has this to say : 

"In truth, I believe, ps firmly as I do that General 
Jackson is President, that if it hadn't been for Carroll 
we should have all been genteelly licked that time, for 
we were in a devil of a fix ; part of our men on one side of 
the creek, and part on the other, and the Indians all the 
time pouring it on us, as hot as fresh mustard to a sore 
shin. I will not say exactly that the old General was 
whipped ; but I will say that if we escaped it at all, it was 
like old Henry Snider going to heaven 'mit a dam tite 
squeeze.' I think he would confess, himself, that he was 
nearer whipp'd this time than he was at any other, for I 
know that all the world couldn't make him acknowledge 
that he was pointedly whipped. I know I was mighty 
glad when it was over, and the savages quit us, for I 
begun to think there was one behind every tree in the 
woods." 

While General Jackson was thus leading the army 
against the Indians on one side of the Tallapoosa, Gen- 
eral Floyd, of Georgia, was operating with the Georgia 
troo})s upon the other, and from the best accounts obtain- 
able it would seem that the whites outnumbered the In- 
dians, at least two to one. By the time this excursion 
was over, new levies for a longer term of service came 
pouring in from Tennessee. 

Just before this, Judge Hugh L. White, of East Ten- 
nessee, rendered to General Jackson a service which, per- 
haps, more than anything else, led to the brilliant termi- 
nation of the Creek War. Having heard of General Jack- 
son's danger. Judge White left th^ bench and hurried 
into the wilderness to learn for himself the actual condi- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 177 

tions of things at Fort Strother. He found Jackson 
almost alone, and he returned to East Tennessee 
impressed with the urgent necessity of doing something 
at once for his support. At this time the Thirty-ninth 
Eegiment of the regular army was in East Tennessee 
under the command of Col. John Williams, a brother- 
in-law of Judge White. To Colonel Williams Judge 
White made the most earnest appeal in behalf of General 
Jackson. Jackson himself had sent to Colonel Williams, 
through Judge White, an urgent, almost despairing 
request for assistance. It is stated that Judge White 
remained with Colonel Williams nearly all night, labor- 
ing to impress upon his mind the necessity of moving to 
Fort Strother, instead of marching to New Orleans, as 
he was under orders to do. Colonel Williams finally 
yielded, and the arrival at Fort Strother of his regiment 
of regulars was of inestimable benefit to General Jack- 
son during the remainder of the campaign. 

This episode is related graphically in a letter which a 
relative of Colonel John Williams wrote for my use, 
when the biography of Jackson was begun several years 
ago. The letter is addressed to Col. John B. Brownlow, 
to whom I am so much indebted for the large amount of 
new data contained in this "Life." 

June 7th, 1907. 
Col. Jno. B. Brownlow. 

My Dear Sir: As to what literature my family may have pre- 
served relating to Andrew Jackson, I am sure it is very limited, and 
any I might find would certainly be to his discredit, as I was raised 
to detest his name; yet all admitted that he was a very remarkable 
character. 

I have spent many pleasant hours looking through old historic 
papers, at home, in Greeneville, and all that I now remember find- 
ing, relating to Jackson, are some cartoons, which I now have here, 
but would not care to let them get out of sight, as they are, pos- 
sibly, the only ones in existence today. They could, however, be 
photographed, and would be very interesting to the political public. 

I think it a great pity historians never came to interview my 
father during his later life. I believe that you will agree with me, 
that his was a wonderful memory of past events and prominent 
political characters. I believe that he knew more unwritten history 
than any man living, and I have often heard him tell why our family 
were so unfriendly to Andrew Jackson, and I will try and repeat it, 
for I know it is true, and should be considered generally history. 

Senator John Williams was my father's uncle, and before being 
Senator he was Colonel of the 39th U. S. Infantry. He married 



178 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Malinda White, sister of Judge Hugh Lawson White. When, during 
the second war with Great Britain, New Orleans was threatened, the 
War Department at Washington ordered Colonel John Williams to 
proceed to that city, with all despatch, to meet the British, under 
Packenham, and he was on the march, but before proceeding very 
far he was overtaken by Judge White, and several distinguished 
gentlemen, and informed that news had come from Jackson, who 
was in the wilderness in Alabama, that he and his army were in bad 
condition, out of provisions, half the army down with fever, and 
surrounded by Creek Indians, and that squads of men were dropping 
out and straggling home, and the army on the eve of mutiny. Judge 
White and party came to explain the situation, which by now might 
be a great deal worse, and to beg Colonel Williams to hasten to 
Jackson, and that the whole State and country would stand to vindi- 
cate him with the War Department — as it would take weeks to get 
the news to Washington, and too late to succor Jackson. Colonel 
Williams told my father that he positively refused to disobey his 
orders — that he appreciated the terrible situation of affairs; but 
that his orders left him no alternative but to proceed and defend 
New Orleans, as much as he would like to relieve Jackson and the 
Tennessee boys, who were in such distress. My father said that 
they pleaded with Colonel Williams until long into the night without 
success, and even told him that to go was his duty, and that they 
knew, and he knew, that the War Department, could it know the 
real situation there, would change his orders, and send him to 
Jackson in all haste. Colonel Williams told my father that Judge 
White pleaded with him all night, and left his tent as the sun rose, 
and that he had finally but reluctantly agreed to go to Jackson. 

When the 39th proceeded, they met many soldiers returning 
home from Jackson's army. Some had thrown away their arms, 
some were sick and being carried by comrades or allowed to ride 
the miserable horses. All were ragged and half starved, and only 
a few turned back to re-join the army. 

When Colonel Williams met Jackson, he (Jackson) was over- 
joyed, and said: "To hell with the British; the red devils first. We 
will do all we can to secure you reward from Washington instead 
of reprimand. By the Eternal, we were about to go up bitter creek." 
Jackson's army was in wild delight over the arrival of that fresh, 
splendid regiment, the 39th, and the battle of Horse Shoe Bend soon 
followed. 

The Choctaw Indians now openly took sides with the 
whites and put themselves under the orders of General 
Jackson. Before the end of February, 1814, he was at 
the head of 5,000 men. The utmost possible force which 
the hostile Creeks could have mustered for battle could 
not far have exceeded 1,000. 

It was during this month of February that the execu- 
tion of John Woods took place. This is one of the most 
lamentable occurrences for which General Jackson is re- 
sponsible. What the exact facts were it may not be easy 
to say, but it is absolutely certain that the statement 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 179 

which General Jackson himself put forth in explanation 
and defense of the shooting of this poor young man con- 
tains material statements that are absolutely untrue. 
The sum and substance of the matter would seem to be 
that a boy of 18 years of age, named John Woods, had 
agreed to serve as a substitute of a man who wished to 
escape the service. A few days after the Company 
reached Fort Strother, this young man, John Woods, was 
on guard. It was a raw, rainy morning of February, and 
the boy was cold and hungry. He had left his blanket in 
his tent and it was long after breakfast time, and he had 
eaten nothing that morning. The Officer of the Guard 
gave him permission to leave his post a few minutes so 
he could go to his tent and get his blanket. In the tent he 
found the breakfast which his comrade had left there for 
him, and, as any other hungry man would have done, he 
began to eat it. The Officer of the Day came along, and 
seeing on the ground around the tent some bones and 
scraps which the other soldiers had thrown about at 
breakfast, gave a sharp order to Woods, and such other 
soldiers as were present, to remove that offensive litter. 
Woods continued to eat, and the officer again ordered 
him to pick up the bones, speaking insultingly to him at 
the same time. Woods, of course, being an inexperienced 
country boy, who, perhaps, considered himself quite as 
good as the Officer of the Day, retorted angrily. The 
officer then, furious at being resisted, ordered Woods to 
drop his breakfast and return to his post. Woods re- 
fused to obey; and then there was a loud quarrel; and 
some one ran to General Jackson, saying that there was 
a mutiny in camp. 

Now, General Jackson had had so much trouble with 
insubordinate soldiers that he was too ready to jump at 
the conclusion that John Woods was entirely in the 
wrong, was a dangerous mutineer, and must be immedi- 
ately put to" death. Greatly excited, Jackson rushed out 
of his tent, shouting, ^' Which is the d— d rascal? Shoot 

him; shoot him; blow ten balls through the villain's 

body." 



180 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Poor Woods was put in irons, was tried by court- 
martial, was condemned to death and was shot. A cruel, 
unnecessary, military-murder. 

In General Jackson's labored explanation and de- 
fense, he states that John Woods had been a second time 
g-uilty of the offense of mutiny. "When you had been 
regularly mustered into the service of your country and 
to march to headquarters under the immediate command 
of Brigadier- General Roberts, you were one of those who, 
in violation of your enlistment, of all principles of honor 
and the order of your Commanding General, rose in 
mutiny and deserted." 

The fact here alleged, evidently bore heavily against 
John Woods in fixing in General Jackson's mind the in- 
flexible determination to have him put to death, — yet this 
statement is one of the most astonishing blunders that 
was ever made. Young John Woods had never before 
enrolled, had never before served, had never deserted, 
had never before been arraigned for a military offense. 
He was, as already stated, a young man of but 18 years of 
age. He was not bound to render any military service, 
because he was not old enough to be legally called into 
the ranks. He had simply allowed himself to be over- 
persuaded by some older man, who was sick of the service, 
and after having served but a few days as a substitute 
for this other soldier, he was put to death because he did 
not have sufficient conception of military duty to submit 
to cold and hunger and insult with the patience which ex- 
emplary discipline requires. 

The general impression is made in most of the Jack- 
son biographies that nobody in Tennessee ever dared to 
beard Andrew Jackson, after the killing of Dickinson. As 
a matter of fact, no man that ever lived in Tennessee had 
to submit to a greater number of rough proclamations, 
pamphlets, speeches, newspaper articles, — than General 
Jackson himself. As an evidence of the boldness with 
which he was attacked we give, at the end of this chapter, 
as a note, an extract from a publication made in Knox- 
ville, in 1828, by John R. Nelson. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 181 

The story of the John Woods tragedy is told with an 
attention to detail which commands considerable confi- 
dence. 

Note. — "The horrid murder of the helpless and inexperienced boy, 
John Woods. He was shot by the order of Gen. Jackson, it is true, 
but I say nevertheless it was murder, being contrary to all law and 
to all usage either civil or military. The circumstances were briefly 
these: — Woods was under eighteen and was the sole dependence of 
his aged parents. Being desirous of serving a campaign, and believ- 
ing that he could make more for them to live upon, he had substi- 
tuted to serve a tour of duty against the enemies of the country in 
place of one of his neighbors. The day he committed the offense, 
for the atonement of which General Jackson required his life, he 
was on guard. It commenced raining and he obtained leave of the 
Officer of the Guard to go to his tent to get his blanket. When he 
got to his tent his mess had just finished their breakfast and had 
left a little coarse food in a skillet. Woods having been on guard, 
tired and hungry, he thought he would snatch a hasty morsel of the 
humble fare that was lying before him. For this purpose he seated 
himself on the ground by the skillet, and had scarcely tasted his 
victuals, when a little whiffling officer, without any commission, it 
is believed, came along, and in the spirit of a tyrant ordered him to 
rise and go and carry off some stinking bones. Woods told him that 
he was on guard, and that he had got leave from his officer to come 
after his blanket and instantly return, and rose from his humble 
seat for that purpose. The officer ordered him to stop and lay down 
his gun. Woods refused and kept on to the guard fire. The little 
man who no doubt considered himself a Bonaparte, and not know- 
ing his duty, felt much offended at Woods, and bawled out that he 
had mutinied. General Jackson rushed out of his tent, swearing 
like an Algerine pirate, "Shoot the damned rascal!! BY THE 
ETERNAL GOD, blow ten balls through the damned rascal!!" Thus, 
like an infuriated demon, vociferated the commanding chief. Woods 
had no doubt been by the Officer of the Guard that very morning,^ 
and often before, cautioned against giving up his gun. I know that 
it was the practice to lecture all the soldiers when placed on guard, 
most particularly the young and inexperienced portion of the army, 
not to give up their guns. It was the general understanding in the 
army that a soldier on guard was liable to be shot for surrendering 
his gun. The order was to the soldier to know no man but those 
who could give the countersign, and he was not even to give up his 
gun then, but let them pass on. When Woods reached his guard fire 
he gave his gun to his officer and surrendered himself. General 
Jackson had him immediately taken under guard, and the little 
tyrant was permitted to thrust him repeatedly with the bayonet. 
He was loaded with chains — underwent a mock trial by a court- 
martial, some of the members of which had no commission. He 
had no counsel, no friend to aid or advise him. Word was spoken 
not in his defense. He was dumb as a lamb before her shearers, 
and although a petition to General Jackson for an unconditional 
pardon was signed by almost all of the officers of the army, yet his 
flinty heart and icy soul could not be reached even by the bitter 
weepings and heartrending sobs of this helpless victim of his wrath 
who stood bound at the stake supplicating for mercy. Instead of 
saying, 'go son to thy aged parents; and smooth the pillow of their 



182 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

declining years;' he swore, by the eternal God he must die, and the 
volley of leaden death was poured into his aching bosom, and his 
sighs and his sobs were stopped forever. Alas! no tender mother 
shall he again behold, 'nor friends, nor sacred home.' He lies now 
a lifeless, a bleeding and mangled corpse. No friend to give him 
decent interment — he was thrown hastily aside by rude hands, and 
perhaps became a prey to the wolf and to the vulture. But the 
worst of this tale of woe and of blood is not yet told. General Jack- 
son, feeling conscious that this boy's death required some apology, 
he wound up the scene and emptied the very dregs of his iniquity 
upon the character of this devoted boy. In order to shield himself 
against public indignation he incorporated into Woods' sentence a 
malignant falsehood. He asserted that Woods had previously de- 
serted, and it is proved by men of unquestioned veracity that it was 
palpably false. I am sustained in these facts by documents in my 
possession." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 183 



CHAPTER XIV. 

By the middle of March, 1814, General Jackson had 
under his command the largest and best appointed army 
that ever marched against the Red Men in America. Five 
thousand soldiers, accustomed to hardships of every kind, 
skilled in the use of fire-arms until they were, perhaps, 
the best rifle shots on earth, and amply provisioned and 
supplied with every munition of war, were now prepared 
to hurl themselves against less than one thousand Creek 
warriors. With a mistaken idea of how to defend them- 
selves, the Indian Chiefs had made an elaborate trap and 
had then gone into it. In the great bend of the Talla- 
poosa River there was what appeared to them to be the 
best of places for a last stand against the invaders of 
their country. With the river at their back and on two 
sides, it seemed to them to require nothing more than a 
strong breastwork of logs across the mouth of this pen- 
insula, to made it an impregnable fortress. As a matter 
of fact, when they had thus thrown their breastwork of 
logs across the narrow passage which led from the open 
country into this narrow tongue of land, they had trapped 
themselves most effectually, for while the river was not 
fordable in their immediate vicinity, it was easy enough 
to find fords a few miles away. Thus, there was no diffi- 
culty in throwing troops across the river tO the rear and 
the flanks of the Indian camp, so that when the attacking 
force occupied a position in front of the land outlet, the 
Indians would be bottled up. If Jackson had simply 
invested the Indian fortress, surrounding it, entrenching 
his troops, simply feeding his own men, — as he was amply 
prepared to do, — the Indians, cut off from all supplies 
and absolutely helpless, would have been compelled to 
surrender at discretion in less than ten days. Not a shot 
need have been fired, no blood need have been spilt. 
Within that narrow tongue of land, — which is now a cul- 
tivated field of about one hundred acres, — the Indians 
could not have held out, for the simple reason that they 



184 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

had no supplies, and no way to get any. It is doubtful if 
they had so much as five days' rations on hand at the 
time when they concentrated themselves in the Horse 
Shoe Bend. On the morning of the 27th of March, 1814, 
when General Jackson appeared before the Indian 
breastworks, those nine hundred Red Men were as com- 
pletely in his power as were the French at Sedan within 
the iron girdle of the Germans. Had General Jackson 
been content to surround the Indian camp and wait, what 
possible hope was there for nine hundred Indian warriors 
against five thousand of the crack riflemen of Tennessee? 
Jackson, however, was in no mood to wait. He was 
bent upon making an immediate assault With about one- 
half of his army he prepared to attack in front, while 
General Coffee, with a force of whites and Indians which 
was fully equal to that of the enemy, was sent to ford the 
river two miles below, to get in the rear of the enemy, to 
cut off his retreat. Had General Coffee been content with 
merely carrying out his orders, there would have been no 
retreat to cut off. Nothing is more certain than that Gen- 
eral Jackson would have failed on the direct attack upon 
the Indian breast-works had it not been that Coffee, with 
the eye of a soldier, saw that he could do vastly better for 
General Jackson than to carry out the orders which had 
been given him. Acting upon his own bold initiative, 
General Coffee sent the friendly Indians to swim across 
the river and bring away the canoes which the doomed 
red men, intrenched in the Bend, had, with amazing 
carelessness, left without a guard. The canoes were soon 
brought over and they were manned by the troops of 
General Coffee, who rowed across the river, landed on 
the bend, and thus an army equal to that of the entrapped 
warriors was on their rear, burning their huts, terroriz- 
ing their women and children, and pouring deadly volleys 
into their ranks at the same time that General Jackson 
was attacking their breastworks in front. Under such 
conditions the Greeks who stood and died at Thermopylae 
would have been unable to have done more than to have 
stood and died in the Horse Shoe Bend. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 185 

With a stoical heroism unsurpassed in the annals of 
warfare these red men, caught between the two armies, 
outnumbered more than five to one, encumbered by their 
women and children, badly armed and with a scant sup- 
ply of ammunition, — fought with undaunted courage 
until nightfall put an end to the butchery. Not one would 
beg for quarter; even the wounded fought desperately 
after they fell to the ground. Dying, they hurled 
their curses and defiance at the invaders of their homes. 
When night put an end to this awful and unnecessary 
massacre, nearly six hundred of the Indians were dead in 
their camp, and perhaps several hundred were beneath 
the waters of the Tallapoosa. This battle ended the 
Creek War. Not only that, but it utterly broke the power 
and spirit of the Creek Nation. It is true that many of 
the warriors sought a refuge and a new home in the 
Everglades of Florida, where, in later years, they re- 
sisted the whites with the same intrepid courage which 
they had shown in Alabama. It is true, also, that scat- 
tered bands intrenched in the swamps of Georgia, fought 
bloody skirmishes with the whites so late as 1836; but as 
a nation, capable of putting regular forces into the field 
to defend their nationality, the Creeks are known to' his- 
tory no more. 

The women and children who were captured in this 
last battle were sent North into the territory which had 
already been swept clear of the "Red Sticks." The 
wounded warriors who would accept mercy were spared 
and cared for. General Jackson personally interested 
himself in one of these wounded warriors, who begged 
that he might be killed. Assuring the young Indian "that 
he would be treated kindly thenceforth, Jackson con- 
tinued to be the friend of the young warrior, and after 
the war, took him to Nashville, where he married a negro 
woman, and lived the remainder of his life. 

It was in this battle of the Horse Shoe Bend that Gen. 
Sam Houston won his spurs. For a long while the fight- 
ing in front of the breastworks was ineffectual. The 
small cannon balls fired from General Jackson's little 

13 a j 



186 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

pieces, — a three-pounder and a six-pounder, — made no 
impression whatever on the large logs of which the 
breastworks were built. In the fury of the fight, it is said 
that the whites went right up to the breastworks on one 
side and the Indians on the other, and that in many cases 
the guns of the opposing men were almost in touch. The 
first man that sprang upon the breastworks to carry the 
assault into the Indian camp was Major L. P. Montgom- 
ery, of the Thirty-ninth. He was instantly shot dead. 
Next was Sam Houston. He had no sooner mounted the 
parapet than an arrow sank deep into his thigh. Calling 
to one of his men, Houston ordered him to pull the arrow 
out. It was so deeply imbedded in flesh and muscle that 
the soldier made two efforts, without success. Suffering 
horrible pain, Houston ripped out an oath at the soldier 
and swore he would kill him if he did not pull the arrow 
out. Giving his full strength to it, the soldier made 
another effort, and drew out the arrow, but fearfully 
mangled the limb. Fearing th^t he would bleed to death, 
Houston re-crossed the breastwork, in order that the 
blood might be staunched and the limb dressed. General 
Jackson was witness to the bravery and the suffering of 
young Houston, and ordered him not to enter the fight 
again. Later in the day, however, we find the irrepres- 
sible Houston leading the last assault which was made 
upon some desperate warriors who had taken refuge in 
a cavern under the river bank. In this assault, made 
against orders, Houston received two bullets in his 
shoulder, and was again put out of action. In fact, it 
seemed to be so certain that he was to be numbered with 
the dead, that the surgeons paid very little attention to 
him during the night ; and it was, perhaps, owing to this 
circumstance, that he survived. 

Strange to say, there has always been more or less 
willingness on the part of Houston's political opponents 
to accuse him of cowardice. For instance, in "Seven 
Decades of The Union," by Henry A. Wise, we find the 
statement that Gen. William Carroll denounced Houston 
on the streets of Nashville as a coward, declaring that at 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 187 

the battle of the Horse Shoe, Houston was struck in the 
arm and ''blubbered so that General Jackson ordered 
the calf to be sent to the rear. ' ' 

What General Carroll may have said in the heat of a 
political contest is not a matter of much importance ; but 
Gen. Andrew Jackson was, perhaps, as good a judge of 
courage as ever lived ; and he certainly had quite as much 
confidence in the grit of Sam Houston as he ever had in 
that of William Carroll, after Carroll absented himself 
on the day of Jackson's fight with the Bentons. 

In the story of this Creek War, the reader will have 
noticed that I have tried to make it plain that up to this 
time General Jackson had shown no extraordinary genius 
as a leader of men. It would be unfair to other com- 
manders not to point out that it was Jackson's good for- 
tune to have advantages which other Indian fighters had 
never had, and that while he measured up to the full 
standard of courage, tenacity of purpose, inflexible de- 
termination to win, persistence in spite of difficulties, yet 
considering that he always outnumbered the enemy two 
or three to one, the results, while eminently satisfactory 
and creditable, were by no means marvelous. 

If I should be asked to name the hero of the Creek 
War, I should feel that truth and justice compelled me to 
mention the Indian Chief, Weatherford. This man's 
father was white, and he himself, in many respects, was 
a white man ; yet he was absolutely true to his own peo- 
ple, and the struggle which he made to preserve their 
homes and their liberty entitles him to a place among the 
heroes of nations. At the beginning of the Creek War he 
was a planter, in comfortable circumstances, owning 
slaves, living like a well-to-do white man, making a spe- 
cialty of raising fine horses, and considered by all who 
knew him an honorable man in the various relations of 
life. When Tecumseh first came down from the North- 
west to preach confederation to the Indian tribes of the 
South, Weatherford did not join the younger Creeks who 
were in favor of organizing to resist the encroachments 
of the whites. It was not until the white settlers of Ten- 



188 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

nessee, Georgia and Mississippi continued to hew down 
the forests of the Indian territories, plow up their farm- 
ing lands, trespass upon their hunting grounds, muddy 
their beautiful streams with the scourings of soil from 
unprotected hillsides, — that Weatherford, fully aroused 
to the fact that he must make a stand against encroach- 
ments or see everything lost to his people, joined the war 
party and made ready for the fight of self-preservation. 
With such men as this, it would have been possible to 
negotiate, and to make a binding treaty. No attempt of 
the kind was made. When those hot-heads from the 
Mobile territory ambushed the Indians who had gone to 
Pensacola to buy ammunition, the war was on. With 
great energy Weatherford collected a few hundred of his 
warriors, invaded Fort Mims, led a dashing assault 
directly upon the gates, won a brilliant victory over the 
whites, and did his utmost to prevent the red men from 
abusing their victory. He threw himself between his 
enraged warriors and the women and children whom they 
were about to slay. Maddened with the lust of battle and 
of triumph, his own men turned upon him and lifted their 
tomahawks over his own head. Helpless and disgusted, 
he withdrew from a scene which he could no longer con- 
trol or endure. Knowing perfectly well that this 
slaughter of women and children would call for ven- 
geance, he made every effort to prepare for the evil day. 
As far as was in his power, he concentrated the women 
and the children and the warriors of his tribe at the 
"Holy Ground," the natural center of Indian resistance. 
Here he was attacked by the army of General Claiborne, 
of Mississippi. With great gallantry he resisted the 
attack, and the Mississippians were making no headway 
against him until his own men suddenly became panic- 
stricken and fled from him, when only about twenty-five on 
their side had fallen. With admirable prudence and fore- 
sight, Weatherford had withdrawn the women and chil- 
dren from the "Holy Ground," and they were out of 
reach of the whites when the stampede of the warriors 
left the great Chief alone. His death or capture seemed 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 189 

certain, but, dashing down a ravine on his splendid gray 
horse, he reached the river bank at a place where the 
ravine had worn the bluffs down to about fifteen feet 
above the water line. Without a moment's hesitation he 
rushed his horse over the bank, and the horse and rider 
sank beneath the surface of the river below. As they 
came up, the Chief was clinging to the mane of his horse, 
and he once more got his seat in the saddle. Bullets 
struck the water on all sides but none struck him. Safely 
across the river, he gave a cry of defiance, and disap- 
peared in the wilderness. The place where this leap was 
made is known to this day as "Weatherford's Bluff." 

After this, Weatherford again got his warriors in 
hand. He fought a pitched battle with General Floyd and 
the Georgia troops. The whites were able to hold their 
ground, but they had been so roughly handled that Gen- 
eral Floyd thought it prudent to retire. While the Geor- 
gians were making this movement, Weatherford, with the 
instinct of a natural soldier, sprang upon the whites, and 
just did miss winning a complete victory. The unsteadi- 
ness of the Indians, their childish tendency to sudden 
fright, — was all that saved the day for the Georgians. It 
was about this time, also, that Jackson had such a narrow 
escape in crossing the Enotochopco. In fact, the Indians 
believed that they had routed the Tennesseans as well as 
the Georgians, and they boasted loudly of having ''made 
Captain Jackson run." If Weatherford had been a 
Scotchman, waging a defensive campaign to save native 
land, if he had been an Irishman, resisting British inva- 
sion; had he been a patriot of Hungary or of Poland, 
making a stand for home and hearth and the graves of 
ancestors, — his name today would be mentioned with ad- 
miration and sympathy by those who immortalize the 
heroism of O'Brien Boru, of Wallace, of Kossuth, of 
Koskiusko. 

With a pitiful force of twelve hundred warriors, half 
of them armed with bows and arrows, most of them 
hungry as they marched or fought, few national heroes 
have ever made a more heroic effort than Weatherford 



190 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

made to save their countrymen in the hour of national 
peril. To make his situation more discouraging and des- 
perate, the very best spies in the service of three white 
armies were Indians; and under the leadership of these 
three white commanders there were always just as many 
Indians as Weatherford could at any time collect to- 
gether for battle. 

When it was all over, the one man who knew that he 
was doomed to the death which follows such a failure, 
was Weatherford. Had he been a man of common mould, 
he would have mounted his horse and sped away to Pen- 
sacola, or to the Everglades of Florida. The others were 
doing it; panic had sapped the strength of the strongest 
of his warriors ; dismay had broken their ranks and scat- 
tered their forces until within the old home of the Creeks 
nothing remained excepting terrified women and hungry 
children, and brave William Weatherford. He knew that 
the Indians who had followed the whites hungered and 
thirsted for vengeance. He knew that the Big Warrior, 
who stood at the head of the peace party, and who had 
reddened his knife in the life-blood of his own people, was 
fiercely intent upon taking the scalp of Weatherford. He 
knew that General Jackson's troops regarded him as the 
author of the butchery of the women and children at Fort 
Mims, and that Jackson had sworn to have his life. But 
the fearless Indian hero, with a magnanimity and a 
breadth of patriotism which deserves to be remembered 
as long as human annals are kept, — mounted his horse, 
rode alone to Jackson's tent, and said: 

"Here I am; kill me if you like; I fought you as long 
as I could ; I would fight you still longer if I could. My 
warriors are dead, or scattered; their bones are at the 
bottom of the river, or whitening on the battlefield; our 
homes are burned; our fields have been laid waste; our 
women and children are huddled in the wilderness, with 
no shelter over their heads, no food to stay their hunger. 
I cannot fight you longer, I surrender. Your men want 
me killed; kill me; but send food to the helpless women 
and children!" 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 191 

To such an appeal there was but one answer which a 
manly man could give. Jackson was not a cold-blooded 
English prig, like the Lord Bathurst to whom Napoleon 
appealed ; the warm blood of Erin coursed through Jack- 
son 's veins, and when this fearless, high-minded Indian 
proposed to sacrifice himself for the salvation of the rem- 
nant of his race, Jackson was completely won. To the 
soldiers who came clamoring to the tent and crying *^Kill 
him! kill him!" the Commander sternly said, "Silence! 
He who would harm as brave a man as this, would rob 
the dead." 

In response to Weatherford's appeal, all of the hos- 
tiles who had come in and surrendered, as well as the 
women and children, were collected and sent North into 
the territory over which Jackson had already made his 
victorious march. Here, for many months, they were 
cared for by the whites, and about five thousand Indians 
were fed on rations furnished by the Government. 

After the war, Weatherford resumed his plantation 
life, was respected by his white neighbors, and died peace- 
fully, some years later, in his own home, from natural 
causes. Take him all in all, it is doubtful if the Indian 
race ever produced a more admirable character. 

It is related of him that after he had settled down to 
farming again, he witnessed the brutal, unprovoked mur- 
der of an old man by two white ruffians. The crime was 
committed in the presence of an aged magistrate, who in 
vain called on the white men present to arrest the mur- 
derers. At length Weatherford said to the magistrate, 
"If you will authorize me to arrest them, I will do it." 
The magistrate promptly requested him to act, and 
Weatherford, drawing his butcher knife, made the arrest 
of both murderers, without having to struggle with either. 

In drawing up his official report of the battle of To- 
hopeka, — or Horse Shoe Bend, — General Jackson was in 
something of a dilemma. He had not made the slightest 
headway in his attack on the breastwork until after Gen- 
eral Coffee, without orders, had sent his men across the 
river to the rear of the Indian line and was pouring 



192 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

deadly volleys into them. It was after the confusion 
which this double attack naturally caused that there was 
a hope of successfully storming the breastwork. In mak- 
ing this decisive assault, Colonel Williams, in command 
of the 39th Regiment of Regulars, was the mainstay of 
the situation. So deeply indebted to Colonel Williams 
did General Jackson feel, that after the fight was won and 
the full glow of excitement and exultation was on him. 
General Jackson rode up to Colonel Williams and ex- 
claimed, "To you, Colonel Williams, I am indebted for 
this victory. You have placed me under everlasting obli 
gations, and you have put me, sir, on the high-road to 
military fame I ' ' 

Now, when it came to drawing up the official report, 
Jackson would have been more than human if he could 
have said to the public what he had said to Colonel Wil- 
liams on the battlefield ; nor could he very well admit that 
General Coffee's bold initiative in throwing a force across 
the river, on the Indian rear, had been the master stroke 
of the day. Therefore, while giving as much credit to 
Colonel Williams and General Coffee as he well could. 
General Jackson did not go to the extent which the facts 
justified. General Grant could hardly have been expected 
to admit that he owed his success in the Chattanooga 
campaign to the charge made up Lookout Mountain with- 
out his orders; — yet such is the truth of history. In like 
manner, Jackson could hardly be expected to admit that 
he owed his crowning triumph in the Creek War to his 
subordinates. General Coffee probably never gave a sec- 
ond thought to the matter of Jackson's official report, — 
but with Colonel Williams the case was different. He felt 
that in disregarding his instructions and carrying his 
regiment of Regulars to Jackson's relief in the wilder- 
ness, he had saved a desperate situation. He had given 
to Jackson himself that support - of disciplined troops 
which made it possible for Jackson to have poor John 
Woods shot, and to' over-awe the volunteers to such an 
extent that they thereafter submitted to Jackson's rigor- 
«.ous discipline. He also felt that he was due just about 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 193 

the amount of credit for the victory of Tohopeka as Jack- 
son himself measured out on the battlefield; therefore, 
when Jackson's official report failed to allot to Colonel 
Williams that share of credit which he felt to be his due, 
the soldier who had done so much for Jackson was pro- 
foundly hurt and angered. 

After the Creek War, Colonel Williams was elected to 
the United States Senate. When a motion was made to 
investigate Jackson's high-handed conduct in Florida, 
Williams voted for the resolution. Soon after this vote, 
a man known to be very close to Jackson, called on the 
Senator, and said: ''I am afraid. Senator Williams, that 
the spirit of hostility you have manifested toward Gen- 
eral Jackson by your vote on the Florida matter will lead 
to a hostile meeting." 

Williams replied : '*If you are afraid of a meeting on 
the field of honor between Jackson and myself, I am not 
afraid of it. I suppose Jackson sent you to me to see 
what effect your implied threat would have on me. You 
go to him and tell him I am ready to meet him at any 
time. I am not to' be dictated to by him as to how I shall 
discharge my Senatorial duties. I think I am a better 
rifle shot than he is." 

Colonel Williams was every whit as game a man as 
Jackson himself, and would no doubt have promptly 
given Old Hickory ''satisfaction," had the General been 
hot-headed enough to carry matters to extremes. But no 
challenge was sent, and Jackson fought out the feud on 
another line. 

W^hen Colonel Williams became a candidate for 
re-election to the United States Senate, he would surely 
have been elected had not Jackson himself entered the 
race. In this he had the support of Colonel Williams' 
brother-in-law, Hugh L. White. The fact that General 
Jackson came into the Senatorial race, after Colonel 
Williams was committed to it, and after his election 
appeared to oe a foregone conclusion, — infuriated Colonel 
Williams beyond all bounds. Jackson won by a majority 
wr seven votes. 



194 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The following extract from a letter of Col. John B. 
Brownlow is interesting : 

Knoxville, April 27, '07. 
Dear Mr. Watson: 

After writing you yesterday, I met Mr. Jas. C. J. Williams, of 
Huntsville, East Tennessee, and asked him if there were any inci- 
dents in regard to the defeat of his grandfathr. Col. John Williams, 
by Jackson for the Senate in 1823 which had not been published. 
He told me the following as such: Judge John Overton hurried 
from Murfreesboro, where our Legislature then met, to the Hermit- 
age, arriving there at 7, while Jackson was at breakfast. He told 
the General, that "it was impossible to defeat Williams by any 
friend he had, that the election would take place that day, and 
unless you at once become a candidate, Williams' election is sure." 
Jackson immediately replied: "You go back to Murfreesboro 
immediately and announce me as a candidate. I do not want the 
office, will probably resign it in a short time, but, by the Eternal, 
John Williams shall not be elected." Jackson was that day elected 
by seven votes. The daughter-in-law of Judge Overton told this to 
my informant's father as she heard the Judge tell it. 

Williams then announced himself as a candidate for 
the State Senate, and he was elected, although the county 
was a strong Jackson county. During the campaign for 
the State Senate, Williams made speeches in which he 
denounced Jackson most bitterly. 

Colonel John Williams died at his home in Knoxville 
in 1837, from the sting of a spider. He had gone through 
all the dangers of the march and the battle, just as the 
great African traveler, Bruce, had gone through all the 
dangers of the savage wilderness in seeking to find the 
sources of the Nile; and at last the strong soldier was 
brought down by the sting of an insect, just as the great 
traveler, Bruce, was brought to his untimely end by mak- 
ing a misstep at his own door. 

Well might the old Tennessee warrior say: "I wish I 
had been killed at the head of my regiment ; there would 
have been honor in that; but it is the irony of fate that a 
man who has often imperilled his life on the field of battle 
should die by the sting of a d — d spider. ' ' 

With another of his officers Jackson had trouble after 
the Battle of Horse Shoe Bend. This was related to me 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 195 

by Col. Sam King, descendant of the officer in question. 
His letter follows : 

William King, of Kings Meadows (now Bristol, Sullivan County, 
Tenn.), commanded the 4th U. S. Infantry in 1818. He took a 
creditable part in the War of 1812 and the subsequent Indian wars, 
and his men were particularly prominent in the Battle of the Horse 
Shoe and were not satisfied with General Jackson's report of the 
battle. After the battle, Colonel King sent a friend to request Gen- 
eral Jackson to "lay his stripes" (i. e., doff his rank) and fight a 
duel with King. General Jackson replied, "Go and tell Colonel King 
our country cannot afford to lose such men as he and I, therefore I 
will not fight him. I will correct my report in which I inadvertently 
failed to give him and his men the credit they deserve." 

Jackson and King were ever afterwards warm friends, and when 
Jackson captured Florida and Cuba, in 1818, he made King Military 
Governor and left his regiment (4th Infantry) as the garrison of 
Pensacola. History says that Jackson took an affectionate leave of 
Colonel King and started to Nashville. 

Colonel King was the son of Col. James King, who in 1795 fur- 
nished General Jackson 12,501.67 1-2 with which to join Colonel 
Overton in the purchase of the Chickasaw Bluffs, where Memphis 
now stands. 



196 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

In his ludicrous "History of the American People," 
Dr. Woodrow Wilson disposes of the Battle of New Or- 
leans in one paragraph. The learned Doctor's work is in 
five pretentious volumes. Yet the most brilliant and 
astonishing triumph which "the American People" have 
ever gained over a foreign foe, is squeezed into eleven 
lines ! The learned Doctor had taken up so much of his 
space and energy glorifying New England riots and skir- 
mishes that, by the time he reached January 8th, 1815, he 
was out of breath and elbow room. 

One of these days, we shall have some broad-minded 
historian buckle down to the task of writing a real ' ' Story 
of the American People;" and then such books as Dr. 
Wilson's will go to the trash-pile, where they belong. The 
history of this natoin did not begin at Plymouth Rock, 
and does not consist solely of Puritan romance. 

The years 1813 and 1814 were doleful years. The 
Ship of State, storm-tossed and badly battered, had a 
weak pilot and a mutinous crew. 

New England was feeding the enemy and defying the 
President. New England was debating secession and a 
separate confederacy. New England was holding corres- 
pondence with Great Britain. Traitors on shore acted as 
spies for the British, giving them timely information of 
the sailing of our ships. To keep New England from dis- 
rupting the Union, as her Hartford Convention, her 
Josiah Quincy, her Pickering and her Cabot boldly threat- 
ened to ^o, Mr. Madison had been driven to' open negotia- 
tions for peace, under circumstances which made it cer- 
tain that we would have to accept humiliating conditions. 

The war was hurting business in New England; and 
New England had demonstrated, very plainly, that she 
would rather go out of the Union than have her business 
hurt. 

The Governor of Vermont ordered home the State 
militia which had been sent to the defense of New York ; 
and when Congress began to consider the conduct of 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 197 

Vermont with a view to rebuking and punishing her 
Governor, the Massachusetts legislature made common 
cause with Vermont and declared her purpose of aiding 
Vermont in resisting the Federal Government. At the 
same time, Massachusetts openly defied the central 
authority by releasing every Federal prisoner confined 
in her jails. 

Here and there, in '^ Histories" written by scholars 
of the East and North, much contempt for James Mon- 
roe finds expression. Well, we can't all be men of tower- 
ing genius. No admirer of James Monroe has ever 
claimed that he was a Washington, or Webster, or 
Franklin, but it ill becomes any American historian to 
speak slightingly of this honest, true-hearted Virginian, 
who gave his whole life to the service of his country, — 
in war and in peace, at home and abroad — and who died 
poor. 

Englishmen are proud of the inscription on the 
monument of the younger Pitt, — an inscription which 
tells the world, and will tell future ages, that the disin- 
terested statesman who filled the highest office of the 
richest nation of the earth, served long and died poor ! 

Why may we not be, for the same reason, proud of 
James Monroe? 

More especially when we remember the origin of the 
financial embarrassments which beclouded his old age, 
and drove him from his home in Virginia, to die in New 
York. 

The story is one that does him everlasting credit, 
and it deserves a page in every history of our Republic. 

The national treasury was empty; the national credit 
was gone; the money-lenders refused to make a loan to 
the Government, save on one condition. 

And that was that James Monroe would give his per- 
sonal word of honor that the debt would be paid. 

The patriot gave the pledge, got the money which 
was sorely needed to feed and equip our troops, and thus 
kept the Government going. 

Why do Northern historians conceal such facts as 



198 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

this? And why do Southern men, like Woodrow Wilson, 
omit such memorable deeds of unselfish devotion to 
country, when they come to publish five-volume histories 
of '*the American People?" 

At the very moment when the Pickerings, Cabots and 
Quincys were threatening to break up the Union because 
the war hurt business, Monroe was pledging his private 
fortune to raise funds for the support of the Govern- 
ment. 

In the same spirit spoke John Eager Howard, the old 
hero whose dash and daring had turned the tide of battle 
at the Cowpens. 

The "business men" of Baltimore, quaking in their 
boots, and thinking of dollars, wanted to surrender the 
city to the British, who had just come from the burning 
of Washington. 

Old Howard sprang up in the meeting and exclaimed : 
"I have as much property in Baltimore as any man here; 
I have five sons; rather than surrender without a fight, 
I will let my property go up in flames, and see every one 
of my sons meet a soldier's death!" 

Of such men as James Monroe and John Eager How- 
ard, is the glory of a nation. 

After the return of General Jackson to Mobile, his 
conduct was extremely imprudent. Although warned by 
James Monroe, Secretary of War, that the British were 
massing their forces for an attack on New Orleans, he 
scattered his troops, and lingered two weeks at Mobile, 
when every possible man should have been making a 
forced march on New Orleans. Sending a thousand of 
his troops on an expedition against the Indians, he 
ordered two thousand to Baton Rouge, left twelve hun- 
dred in Mobile, and despatched one regiment to the 
threatened city. 

It was not until the 2nd of December, 1814, he himself 
reached New Orleans, which he found totally unprepared 
for defence. 

Very fortunately, the General had, from first to last, 
the benefit of the invaluable aid of Edward Livingston — a 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 199 

wise counsellor, an indefatigable co-worker, a man of 
resource, local influence, and the most ardent patriotism. 
This New Yorker was a tower of strength to Jackson 
during the trying weeks which followed, and to his ability 
and tireless energy the success of the defence was greatly 
indebted. 

Mr. Livingston, whose wife was a social leader in 
New Orleans and a full-blooded French Creole, invited 
General Jackson to dinner on the day he was made Jack- 
son 's military secretary. Mrs. Livingston was entertain- 
ing a party of Creole young ladies, that day, and she 
remonstrated with her husband for having asked ''that 
wild Indian fighter of Tennessee upon a dinner party of 
young ladies." 

But the invitation had been sent and accepted, and in 
due time the wild Indian fighter rode up, dismounted, 
and entered the Livingston home. 

We will give the remainder in Mr. Livingston's own 
language : 

"The General appeared in the full-dress uniform of 
his rank — that of major-general in the regular army. 
This was a blue frock-coat with buff facings and gold 
lace, white waistcoat and close-fitting breeches, also of 
white cloth, with morocco boots reaching above the knees. 
To my astonishment this uniform was new, spotlessly 
clean, and fitted his tall, slender form perfectly. I had 
before seen him only in the somewhat worn and careless 
fatigue uniform he wore on duty at headquarters. I had 
to confess to myself that the new and perfectly fitting 
full-dress uniform made almost another man of him. 

''I also observed that he had two sets of manners: 
One for the headquarters, where he dealt with men and 
the problems of war; the other for the drawing-room, 
where he met the gentler sex, and was bound by the eti- 
quette of fair society. But he was equally at home in 
either. When we reached the middle of the room all the 
ladies rose. I said: 'Madame and Madamoiselles, I 
have the honor to present Major-General Jackson, of the 
United States Army.' 



200 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

**The General bowed to Madame, and then right and 
left to the young ladies about her. Madame advanced to 
meet him, took his hand and then presented him to the 
young ladies severally, name by name. Unfortunately, 
of the twelve or more young ladies present — all of whom 
happened to be French — not more than three could speak 
English; and as the General understood not a word of 
French — except, perhaps, Sacre hleu — the general con- 
versation was restricted. 

''However, we at once sought the table, where we 
placed the General between Madame Livingston and 
Mademoiselle Choutard, an excellent English scholar, 
and with their assistance as interpreters, he kept up a 
lively all-round chat with the entire company. Of our 
wines he seemed to fancy most a fine old Madeira, and 
remarked that he had not seen anything like it since 
Burr's dinner at Philadelphia in 1797, when he (Jack- 
son) was a Senator. I well remember that occasion, hav- 
ing been then a member of Congress from New York and 
one of Burr's guests. 

** 'So you have known Mr. Livingston a very long 
time,' exclaimed Mile. Choutard. 

" 'Oh, yes. Miss Choutard,' he replied, 'I had the 
honor to know Mr. Livingston probably before the world 
was blessed by your existence!' 

"This was only one among a perfect fusillade of 
quick and apt compliments he bestowed with charming 
impartiality upon Madame Livingston and all her pretty 
guests. 

"When the dinner was ever he spent half an hour or 
so with me in my library ; and then returned to the draw- 
ing-room to take leave of the ladies, as he still had much 
work before him at headquarters that night. During the 
whole occasion the ladies, who thought of nothing but the 
impending invasion, wanted to talk about it almost exclu- 
sively. But he gently parried the subject. The only 
thing he said about it that I can remember was to assure 
Madame that while 'possibly British soldiers might get 
near enough to see the church-spires that pointed to 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 201 

heaven from the sanctuaries of their religion, none should 
ever get a glimpse of the inner sanctuaries of their 
homes. ' I confess that I myself more than once marvelled 
at the unstudied elegance of his language, and even more 
at the apparently spontaneous promptings of his gal- 
lantry. 

"When he was gone, the young ladies no longer 
restrained their enthusiasm. 'Is this your savage Indian 
fighter!' they demanded, in a chorus of their own lan- 
guage. 'Is this your rough frontier General? Shame 
upon you, Mr. Livingston, to deceive us so! He is a 
veritable preux chevalier!' And I must confess that 
Madame was as voluble in her reproaches as any of the 
young ladies. I was glad to escape in a few minutes, 
when I went to join the General at headquarters, where 
we were busy until near two a. m. with the preliminary 
work of the campaign." 

Ever since the 26th of November, a fleet of fifty sail, 
the finest ships of the British navy, had been making 
across from Negrill Bay, Jamaica, to the Gulf Coast. 
Had they not been detained by two weeks of head-winds, 
they would have anchored within striking distance of 
New Orleans before Jackson could have brought a thou- 
sand men together for defense. The new levies from 
Tennessee were not in hand; the Kentuckians were far 
away; and Jackson himself had sent the greater number 
of his own men beyond supporting distance. 

Delayed by head-winds, it was not until December 5th 
that the British fleet was sighted off Pensacola. Some 
unknown patriot wrote to Commodore Patterson at New 
Orleans telling him of the approach of the enemy, but 
even then General Coffee was not ordered in. Slow in 
covering the distance between Jamaica and the Gulf 
Coast, the British were equally slow in deciding what to 
do after they arrived. These precious delays brought 
General Carroll and his Tennesseans nearer to the 
threatened city every day, and made it possible for the 
fine soldier and sterling patriot, General Adair, to bring 
to the field of battle the hurried levies from Kentucky. 

14 aj 



202 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

On December 14tli, the British, in overwhelming force, 
attacked the little squadron of gunboats which Lieuten- 
ant Ap Catesby Jones commanded on Lake Borgne. 
After a most gallant resistance, the Americans were 
killed or captured and their boats destroyed. 

It was not until the news of this disaster reached him 
that Jackson quit dawdling and posturing, and got down 
to his work. It was almost too late. Had the British 
pushed right ahead, it would have been too late. 

There was practically no force in the city at this 
time upon which Jackson could rely and the enemy could 
have gone to the Chef Mentour, or to the Villere planta- 
tion, and marched into New Orleans. Between the Villere 
house and the city, not an obstacle to the advance inter- 
vened. Carroll had not come; Adair had not come; and 
Coffee had not even been ordered to come! 

But the guns on Lake Borgne roused Jackson, at last, 
and from that moment he was the Jackson of the Creek 
"War. In all directions flew the orders that ought to have 
been issued two weeks earlier. General Coffee was 
ordered to make a forced march to New Orleans. The 
listless Creoles were told that every able-bodied man who 
did not appear with a gun in his hand, ready to fight for 
his home, would be treated as an enemy. The Legisla- 
ture was asked to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. 
When it dallied, Jackson put the city under martial law. 
The effect was electrical. The sleepy old town was gal- 
vanized into unheard-of activity. Rich men and poor 
men, native Americans and Americans of foreign 
descent, mechanics and cotton merchants — all were 
thrown promiscuously together, drilled, and made ready 
to fight. The women were ablaze with courageous enthu- 
siasm. Their ready hands did a thousand useful things ; 
their spirit was an inspiration to the men; and the 
roughly clad backwoodsmen who were to bear the brunt 
of the battle never forgot the kindnesses showered upon 
them by the noble women of New Orleans. 

General Carroll arrived with the fresh brigade from 
Tennessee. LaFitte and his alleged pirates spurned the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 203 

offers of the English and came to fight with the Ameri- 
icans. Creoles to the number of one thousand were 
enrolled. Two hundred free negroes volunteered. And 
fifty or sixty Choctaws were on hand, under their noted 
Captain, Jugeat, to do valuable service and to contribute 
one-third to the entire losses in the final battle of 
January 8th, 1815. 

It was not until the 18th and 19th of December, 1814, 
that any attempt to reconnoitre the American position 
was made by the enemy. Deciding to effect a landing at 
Bienvenue, instead of at Chef Mentour, the British 
advanced upon the Bienvenue road and were at the Villere 
plantation, six miles from New Orleans, before General 
Jackson knew anything of the movement. Major Villere 
was captured, and the British camped on his place, — had 
they marched straight on it is practically certain that 
they would have taken New Orleans. 

Major Villere realized the supreme importance of 
notifying Jackson of the landing of the British, and, by 
desperate effort, he made his escape, reached the city, 
and made known its immediate peril. 

Jackson rose to the occasion, and mastered the crisis. 
When Major Villere dashed into New Orleans with the 
tidings that the enemy had landed in force, and were 
only six miles away, the noon hour was past, and the 
easy going population were indoors, napping or eating. 

BOOM! Boom! It is the alarm gun! Thrillingly 
sounds the great bell of the cathedral — clang on clang, 
peal on peal — the drums beat the long roll; and the city 
springs to life as from an electric shock. To arms! The 
enemy is at hand! — and those who are to make the living 
rampart behind which the fair city shall be safe, rush to 
the Place of Arms, — the regulars, the Tennesseans, the 
Creoles, LaFitte's pirates, the free negroes, the Choctaw 
Indians. To do what? To march, on the instant, against 
the invader, and to fight him that very night! 

To the full stature of a national hero, Andrew Jack- 
son rises at a bound — for the unhesitating resolution to 
advance and fight is nothing less than sublime. And it is 



204 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the very wisest thing to do. His magnificent dash and 
bluff in making the night attack fills the British with the 
belief that he heavily outnumbers them, and to this 
false impression is due that delay which becomes the 
salvation of New Orleans. 

The enemy had gone into camp for the night, fires 
were lit, the soldiers were taking things comfortably, 
with no thought of being attacked, when the American 
schooner, the Carolina, dropped down the Mississippi, 
anchored within range, and blazed away — to the utter 
amazement of the British. In the meantime. General 
Jackson had marched by the levee, and General Coffee 
by the Cypress swamp; and before the British could 
recover from the consternation and confusion caused by 
the Carolina's fire, the Americans were pouring in a 
deadly fire, right and left. 

Had it not been for the darkness which caused the 
troops of Cogee to come into action before going far 
enough to take the enemy in flank, it is probable that this 
night attack of December 23rd would have resulted in a 
decisive victory for Jackson. As it was, the men lost 
their formation and the battle took on the appearance of 
a confused melee, in which squads fought squads, and 
individual soldiers "had it out" with their guns, swords, 
knives and tomahawks. The British gave ground, but 
their reinforcements were coming up, and Jackson 
decided to call off his men before daylight should reveal 
his numerical weakness. He drew back about two miles, 
to the old Kodriguez Canal, behind which he took 
position. 

From the cypress swamp to the river was about a 
mile. To throw up an embankment along the old Canal, 
taking the soil from the bottom and one side of the 
trench and throwing this mud up on the other side of the 
trench — thus deepening and widening the ditch as the 
breastwork rose higher, — is the easy task to which some 
2,000 negroes, impressed for the purpose, can be put. 
Behind the breastwork, the level ground stretches away 
to New Orleans; in front, it is level all the way to the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 205 

British camp. The enemy must advance to the attack 
over the level ground of this narrow plain. The soil is 
so moist that water runs into a trench when one sinks it 
two feet. Consequently, the British cannot advance by 
parallels, zigzag, or other military methods laid down in 
the books. The British believe that the swamp is a 
morass ;the river is a mile wide ; to drive Jackson out of 
the path to New Orleans they must come up, in the open, 
and present their unshielded breasts to 4,000 of the best 
rifle shots in the world. These riflemen will be protected 
by substantial earthworks, and on the side up which the 
British must climb to get at the Americans, the ditch is 
so wide and deep, and the sloping embankment so steep 
and slippery that it would be a difficult task to reach the 
top, although nobody was there to shoot at the climber. 
As a matter of fact the water in the river at this time 
was so low that such a leader as George Rogers Clarke 
would have led his men through the swamp, out of range 
of Jackson's rifles, and come upon his rear! But the 
British never even made the attempt! 

Even a civilian can understand the advantage of 
Jackson's position. Inasmuch as the British finally dug 
a canal across the isthmus, got some boats on the river, 
and sent over a detachment of a thousand men, we can- 
not but marvel that the entire army did not pass to the 
other bank, and march upon New Orleans by that prac- 
tically undefended route. 

Staggered by the night attack, the English army lay 
in camp, while sailors from the fleet, with enormous toil 
and difficulty, dragged nine field pieces, two howitzers, 
and one mortar from the ships through the swamp to the 
Villere plantation. Then the Carolina was destroyed by 
red-hot shot, and the other American vessel, the Lou- 
isiana, compelled to go out of range. 

By January 1, 1815, the British sailors had managed 
to bring thirty cannon through the bog to the camp, and 
Sir Edward Packenham, the Commander-in-Chief, 
opened a cannonade on the American line. To the amaze- 
ment of the enemy, his gunners were no match for the 



206 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Americans. After four hours, the English guns were 
silenced. Several of them were dismounted. 

It was in this cannonade that each army discovered 
that it had made a mistake in the construction of its 
defensive works. The British had used hogsheads of 
sugar, upon the supposition that sugar would resist pro- 
jectiles, as sand does. Of course, it did not. 

General Jackson, on the other hand, had used bales 
of cotton. The cannon balls of the enemy knocked these 
out of place, and they were set on fire by the wadding of 
the American guns. Therefore, the bales had to be 
removed and carried to the rear, where the soldiers took 
them to pieces and used the lint for bedding. 

Appendix. 

Letter from Colonel Edward Nichols to LaFitte, the 
Commander of the Barratarian Smugglers: 

I have arrived in ttie Floridas for the purpose of annoying the 
only enemy Great Britain has in the world, as France and England 
are now friends. I call on you, with your brave followers, to enter 
into the service of Great Britain, in which you shall have the rank 
of captain; lands will be given to you all in proportion to your 
respective ranks, on a peace taking place, and I invite you on the fol- 
lowing terms: Your property shall be guaranteed to you, and your 
persons protected; in return for which I ask you to cease all hos- 
tilities against Spain, or the allies of Great Britain. Your ships 
and vessels to be placed under the orders of the commanding officer 
on this station, until the commander-in-chief's pleasure is known; 
but r guarantee their fair value at all events. I herewith inclose 
you a copy of my proclamation to the inhabitants of Louisiana, 
which will, I trust, point out to you the honorable intentions of my 
Government. You may be a useful assistant to me, in forwarding 
them; therefore, if you determine, lose no time. The bearer of this. 
Captain McWilliams, will satisfy you on any other point you may 
be anxious to learn, as will Captain Lockyear, of the Sophia, who 
brings him to you. We have a powerful reinforcement on its way 
here, and I hope to cut out some other work for the Americans than 
oppressing the inhabitants of Louisiana. Be expeditious in your 
resolves, and rely on the verity of your very humble servant. 

EDWARD NICHOLS. 

Dated, probably, Sept. 3, 1814. 

Letter from Mr. LaFitte to Mr. Blanque. 

Barataria, 4th September, 1814. 
Sir: Though proscribed by my adopted country, I will never 
let slip any occasion of serving her, or of proving that she has 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 207 

never ceased to be dear to me. Of this you will here see a convinc- 
ing proof. Yesterday, the 3rd of September, there appeared here, 
under a flag of truce, a boat coming from an English brig, at 
anchor about two leagues from the pass. Mr. Nicholas Lockyer, a 
British officer of high rank, delivered me the following papers, two 
directed to me, a proclamation, and the admiral's instructions to 
that officer, all herewith enclosed. You will see from their contents 
the advantages I might have derived from that kind of association. 
I may have evaded the payment of duties to the custom house, but 
I have never ceased to be a good citizen; and all the offence I have 
committed, I was forced to by certain vices in our laws. In short, 
sir, I make you the depository of the secret on which perhaps de- 
pends the tranquility of our country; please to make such use of it 
as your judgment may direct. I might expatiate on this proof of 
patriotism, but I let the fact speak for itself. I presume, however, 
to hope that such proceedings may obtain amelioration of the situa- 
tion of my unhappy brother, with which I recommend him particu- 
larly to your influence. It is in the bosom of a just man, of a true 
American endowed with all other qualities that are honored in 
society, that I think I am depositing the interests of our common 
country, and what particularly concerns myself. 

Our enemy have endeavored to work on me by a motive which 
few men would have resisted. They represented to me a brother in 
irons, a brother who is to me very dear, whose deliverer I might 
become, and I declined the proposal. Well persuaded of his inno- 
cence, I am free from apprehension as to the issue of a trial; but he 
is sick and not In a place where he can receive the assistance his 
state requires. I recommend him to you, in the name of humanity. 

As to the flag of truce, 1' have done with regard to it, everything 
that prudence suggested to me at the time. I have asked fifteen 
days to determine, assigning such plausible pretexts that I hope the 
term will be granted. I am waiting for the British officer's answer, 
and for yours to this. Be so good as to assist me with your judi- 
cious counsel in so weighty an affair. 
I have the honor to salute you, 

J. LaFITTB. 

Letter from LaFitte to His Excellency, W. C. C. Clai- 
borne, Governor of Louisiana. 

Sir: In the Arm persuasion that the choice made of you to fill 
the office of first magistrate of this state, was dictated by the 
esteem of your fellow-citizens, and was conferred on merit, I confi- 
dently address you on an affair on which may depend the safety of 
this country. 

I offer to you to restore to this state several citizens, who per- 
haps in your eyes have lost that sacred title. I offer you them, 
however, such as you could wish to find them, ready to exert their 
utmost efforts in defense of the country. This point of Louisiana, 
which r occupy, is of great importance in the present crisis. I ten- 
der my services to defend it; and the only reward I ask is that a 
stop be put to the proscription against me and my adherents, by an 
act of oblivion for all that has been done hitherto. I am the sti-ay 
sheep, wishing to return to the sheepfold. If you were thoroughly 
acquainted with the nature of my offences, I should appear to you 
much less guilty, and still worthy to discharge the duties of a good 



208 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

citizen. I have never sailed under any flag but that of the Republic 
of Carthagena, and my vessels are perfectly regular in that respect. 
If I could have brought my lawful prizes into the ports of this State, 
I should not have employed the illicit means that have caused me 
to be proscribed. I decline saying more on this subject, until I 
have the honour of your excellency's answer, which 1 am persuaded 
■can be dictated only by wisdom. Should your answer not be favor- 
able to my ardent desires, I declare to you that I will instantly leave 
the country, to avoid the imputation of having co-operated towards 
an invasion on this point, which cannot fail to take place, and to 
rest secure in the acquittal of my own conscience. I have the 
honour to be. Your excellency's, etc., 

J. LaFITTE. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 209 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The British anny, on January 8tli, numbered about 
10,000 fighting men. Excepting the two regiments of 
West Indian negroes (about 1,700,) they were the best 
soldiers, in the open, that could have been mustered any- 
where. There were not only picked men from Ireland 
and Scotland, but several thousands of veterans, who 
had become hardened to warfare in the stern school of 
Wellington. They had won nearly every pitched battle 
which they had fought in Spain, and stormed such strong- 
holds as Cindad Rodriga, Badajo's and San Sebastian, — 
taking them after desperate resistance and after sur- 
mounting obstacles which seemed invincible. They had 
so barbarously, inhumanly abused their triumphs that 
the atrocities of the Indians at Fort Mims and at 
Frenchtown appear as nothing, — for the cold-blooded 
murder of the helpless non-combatants of the Peninsula 
City was the milder form which English ferocity and lust 
took during those horrible days. 

Such are the men who have come to take New 
Orleans; and they are arrogantly confident of their 
ability to do it, — and then the wealth of the city and 
beautiful girls and matrons, whose only wall of defence 
is the heroic band under Jackson, are to be at the mercy 
of their beastly appetites, as were the Spanish and 
Portuguese women at San Sebastian. Some of these 
British soldiers had taken part in the burning and loot- 
ing of Washington; some in the burning and ravishing 
at Hampton. Once let these brutes break through the 
line that checks their advance, and New Orleans will be 
given to the torch, the robber and the rapist. 

Let us see how the army of General Jackson is 
made up. 

Of "Regulars" — troops of the U. S. Army, — he has 
less than a thousand. He has about 800 Louisiana 
militia, of whom 180 are free negroes — mostly refugees 
from San Domingo. He has Captain Jugeat and his 62 



210 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Choctaws. He has 36 Baratarian pirates, turned 
patriots. But the most effective force, — the trained 
marksmen who shoot rifles that will kill at 400 yards, — 
are the backwoodsmen of Tennessee, Kentucky, men who 
had won the day for Harrison on the Thames and for 
Jackson at Horse Shoe Bend. 

All told, there stood in the front line, 3,918 men ; but 
near at hand, in reserve were Hinds' Mississippi Rifles, 
150 strong; Harrison's Battalion of Kentucky Militia, 
306 men, and Ogden's 50 U. S. Dragoons. 

All through the night of Friday, January 6th, muffled 
sounds from the British camp reached the Americans. A 
vague bustle and rumble, as of preparation and prelimi- 
nary movement for general attack or retreat. Some of 
Jackson 's officers believed that the British were packing 
up to abandon the expedition. Jackson, however, had 
been closely watching them from the top of the MaCartie 
house — his headquarters, — and came to the conclusion 
that the enemy was putting itself in marching order to 
storm the American line. 

Throughout Saturday, the assault was expected. The 
riflemen of the South nursed their long, clumsy, but 
deadly rifles, their fierce, eager eyes sweeping the plain 
in front, their souls and bodies keyed up to the utmost 
tension, and their confidence unshaken. As General 
Coffee wrote his wife, "All we want is for the red-coats 
to come within fair buck range. ' ' 

Saturday passed without event, and Jackson felt cer- 
tain that with the dawn of Sunday morning the struggle 
would commence. 

Doubling the sentinels, connecting lines were thrown 
out, so that the first movement of the enemy would be 
known in the American camp. 

At midnight, Jackson rose and saying: "Gentlemen, 
we have slept long enough," made his way with his staff 
to the front. His troops, tired of the long delay, and of 
the cramped, uncomfortable life on the muddy plain 
behind their breastwork, were in the highest spirit at the 
thought of putting an end to their suspense and suffer- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 211 

ings. That they would be able to hold their position and 
to sweep off the face of the earth whatever attacking 
columns might be sent against them, they had not the 
slightest doubt. The feeling which animated the entire 
American army might have been summed up in the 
words, *'Let them come on. We are ready, willing and 
waiting. We'll show these heroes of Bladensburg the 
difference between raw militia, commanded by imbeciles, 
and the hardened backwoodsmen who won at Talladega 
and the Thames. We'll show these heroes of Badajo's 
and Cindad Rodrigo and San Sebastian a thing or two 
that they did not learn in Spain. Let them come on — 
those two-burners, those brutes who raped screaming 
girls at Hampton, and who have brought the same negro 
troops here in the belief that there will be raping in New 
Orleans! — These devils incarnate who in the Spanish 
and Portuguese cities — cities friendly to the British — 
practiced such enormities of atrocious cruelty and lust, 
as makes the blood run hot and cold with horror and 
indignation. Let them come on ! We are ready." 

At the hour of the clock which marked sunrise, there 
was so dense a mist hanging between swamp and river, 
enveloping the entire plain, that one could see but a few 
yards in front of him. Under this cover, the British 
might have made their attack to great advantage. They 
had only to march straight ahead, there being no danger 
of columns going the wrong road. Between river and 
swamp was the open plain a mile wide, level as a floor, 
and free from obstructions. In the mist, they could have 
marched to the very brink of the ditch behind which the 
Americans were posted without offering to the riflemen 
of Jackson any definite target. 

But British rules did not favor such fighting, and 
therefore they waited until the fog began to lift. 

''My Choctaws, I suppose," said Jackson. So it was. 
Two of the red men, crawling along toward the enemy, 
had seen, under the fog, the legs of British sentinels and 
had fired at them. The sentinels ran in. 

The fog lifting, the Americans could at length see the 



212 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

British column of attack, some 600 yards away. Generals 
Jackson, Carroll and Adair, and Major Latour, mounted 
the breastworks to watch the advance. Two rockets 
were fired by the enemy, — the signal for the battle. 
Jackson ordered off the parapet the officers who were 
with him, but stood there himself, scanning the British 
through his glasses. 

''Pass the wotd down the line," he said to Carroll 
and Adair, "for the men to be ready; let them count the 
enemy's file down as closely as they can, and each look 
after his own file man in the enemy's ranks. The men 
are not to fire until told and then to aim above the cross- 
belt plates." 

As I shall show later by figures taken from official 
records, there has been much flambuoyant nonsense writ- 
ten about the devastation wrought upon the British by 
the cannon and "the regulars" at the Battle of New 
Orleans. 

Jackson's Batteries, Nos. 7 and 8, were on the rifle 
line. They smoked portentously as they bellowed away, 
and this smoke hung low, in front of the rifle line, throw- 
ing a screen between the riflemen and the enemy which 
would make it impossible for the backwoodsmen to take 
aim, when their turn should come to fire. 

General Adair, of Kentucky, noticed this and called 
General Carroll 's attention to it. They both agreed that 
those batteries had better be ordered to cease firing. 
They so advised General Jackson. He gave the order, 
and "Batteries Nos. 7 and 8" went out of action. 

The smoke lifted none too soon, for when it cleared 
away, there were the British, steadily advancing in mag- 
nificent array, not more than three hundred yards off. 

Jackson got down off the breastwork. 

"They're near enough now," he said to Carroll and 
Adair. 

In front of the centre of the British line rode an 
officer in brilliant uniform, on a splendid gray charger. 

General Adair stepped to where Morgan Ballard, a 
crack-shot, of the Kentucky force, was waiting with his 
thumb on the hammer of his rifle. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 213 

''Morg," said Adair, ''see that officer on the gray 
horse?" 

"Yes, sir." 

''Snuff his candle," said Adair. 

The rifle came up, cracked like a whip, and the British 
officer. Major Whittaker, toppled off his horse— stone 
dead — for the ball had nipped his ear and passed clean 
through from temple to temple. 

''Fire! Fire!"— the word ran all along the Ameri- 
can line, and the rifles began to crack,— the noise blend- 
ing as the fire became more continuous, until an inde- 
scribable volume of keen, tearing, snarling, snapping 
sound, rang from one of the breastworks to the other. It 
was not a roar of battle which these rifles made. The 
rifle report in the old times was a keen, sharp crack, — a 
splitting sound peculiar to itself,— and when two thou- 
sand of these whip-cracker guns were snapping at the 
same time, the noise must have sounded unearthly in the 
ears of European veterans accustomed only to muskets 
and cannon. 

The Americans were formed in loose order, four deep, 
so that as the first line fired it might draw back to load, 
while the second line advanced to the breastwork to fire. 
By the time the fourth line had fired, the first had 
reloaded, and were ready to shoot. In this way, a con- 
tinuous sheet of flame was kept alive along the American 
line. 

On the night of January 7, Sir Edward Pakenham 
had called a council of war. The British officers were 
sorely puzzled by the problem which presented itself to 
them, and many had their misgivings. Sir Edward 
Pakenham was the brother-in-law of the Duke of Welling- 
ton, and had greatly distinguished himself in Spain ; yet 
his movements and his delays on the Mississippi, had 
shaken the confidence of his lieutenants. Apparently, he 
was at a loss what to do. His capacity as a general had 
not seemed equal to the emergency. 

"Oh for an hour of the old Duke!" cried one of the 
British generals. Nothing could more clearly prove 
what was thought of Pakenham. 



214 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

At the Council of War it had been finally decided to 
storm the American works. In vain General Keane 
remonstrated. In vain Colonel Mullens declared: "Gen- 
tlemen, my regiment will have the head of the column 
tomorrow. You are sending it to execution." 

But General Gibbs, an officer of the Braddock type, 
exclaimed hotly: 

''Gentlemen, I have no patience with anyone who 
argues that the men who stormed Cindad Rodrigo and 
Badajos can be halted by, much less repulsed from, a low 
log breastwork manned by a backwoods rabble." 

Thus almost by intimidation, the attack in the open, 
with breastworks bared, had been decided on. 

At the same time, they had determined to land a force 
of a thousand men on the right bank of the river, to 
advance upon New Orleans on that side. Colonel Thorn- 
ton, an able officer, was assigned to this command. 

It was about eight o'clock in the morning (the 8th), 
before the fog lifted sufficiently to satisfy the British 
that it was time to march. On they went, directing their 
advance upon Jackson's left. For the American cannon, 
they cared nothing. They were used to that kind of war- 
fare, were prepared for it, and braved it, — but after 
Major Whittaker fell, and that awful crackling of rifle- 
fire commenced, and rank after rank in the attacking 
column sank into the ground, — dismay took possession 
of the British. 

Every mounted officer had fallen at the first fire. 
The Forty-fourth foot appeared to have vanished. 

The storm then broke upon the Fourth foot and 
Seventh Fusiliers. 

General Gibbs, as brave a soldier as ever went into 
battle, vainly strove to hold his men to the work. They 
broke and fled, — far to the rear. 

General Pakenham in person came forward with the 
second column of attack. The Ninety-third Sutherland 
Highlanders, a thousand or more in number, were at its 
head. As he rode past their flank, General Packenham 
saluted them with lifted hat. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 215 

Spurring his horse to the front, Pakenham waved 
his hat and cried to Colonel Dale, commander of the 
Highlanders : ' ' Come on with the tartan ! ' ' 

The magnificent column got in motion. Before it did 
so, Colonel Dale had made his will. He had seen the fate 
of the first column, and guessed that of the second. But 
without a murmur he led his Highlanders to the 
slaughter. 

General Pakenham, with a brilliant staff, was con- 
spicuous in this advance of the second column. Barely 
had he come within range of the American line, before 
there was the crack of two' or three rifles. Pakenham 
reeled in his saddle, and was lifted to the ground, a 
dying man. 

Then the sheet of flame ran along the American 
breastwork, the angry crackle and crash of nearly two 
thousand rifles rang out, and the head of the British 
column disappeared. 

Their officers slain, their front files mCwn down, the 
leaden sleet beating upon them pitilessly, and cease- 
lessly, the Highlanders stopped, not knowing what to do. 

"What's the matter with the Sawnies?" impatiently 
exclaimed the undaunted General Gibbs, who had at 
length rallied a portion of the first column and was now 
leading it back to the assault. The Highlanders were 
directly in his front, and barring his way. 

''What's the matter with the SawniesI Why don't 
they go ahead ? Tell them to get out of my way, or I will 
run over them. I'll wipe out that nest of Yankee hornets 
with the Fusilliers of the Forty-third." 

A brave, resolute officer as ever led a column, — this 
General Gibbs. 

But the Highlanders were in confusion, and did not 
get out of the way. Gibbs obliqued around their right 
flank — "left shoulder forward" — and swept on toward 
the breastwork. Riding a fine black stallion, Gibbs was 
a splendid picture of the fearless officer on the battle- 
field, as he led his men that Sunday morning, — bold, con- 
fident, unselfish, — taking for himself every risk which he 
made his men take. 



216 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Scarcely had he cleared the flank of the Highlanders, 
before horse and rider fell; and the rash General Gibbs, 
who had scorned the backwoods rabble, was borne to the 
rear, mortally wounded, cursing Pakenham and curs- 
ing fate. 

As Gibbs fell, General Lambert came up with the 
reserves. 

Lambert had seen enough to convince him of the hope- 
lessness of further assaults. Severely wounded himself, 
he drew off the wreck of the attacking columns. 

"While the more serious fighting was taking place in 
the centre, an attempt was made, by way of the swamp, 
to flank the American position. 

Captain Jugeat and his Choctaws, reinforced by Don- 
elson's Company of Tennesseans, drove the British back 
to the plain. 

Next to the riv^r. Colonel Eennie had led about 900 of 
the British against the redoubt held by the Seventh 
Eegulars, and a small battalion of Louisiana Militia, 
armed with smooth bore muskets. 

Colonel Rennie took this redoubt, but could not hold 
it because of the enfilading fire poured into it from other 
portions of the American line. 

Charging the main American breastwork, Rennie got 
up into the ditch, and might have gone over the parapet, 
had not General Carroll seen the danger of the regulars 
and sent two companies of Tennessee riflemen, at the 
double to their aid. When these two companies came 
within range of the British, they got up on the parapet 
to fire, and when the flame leaped from their rifle mouths, 
the "right flank column seemed to sink into the earth." 

Colonel Rennie and a few others got over the breast- 
works, but they were killed or captured. 

The British attack on the right flank was successful. 
General Morgan, in command of the Americans, com- 
mitted stupid blunders, and the Kentucky militia, armed 
with shot guns, could not stand before the British Regu- 
lars. The Kentucky troops on the right bank had no 
such breastworks as the troops on the left bank had, — 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 217 

whereas the British were as well equipped on one side of 
the river as upon the other. Nevertheless, the militia of 
General Morgan inflicted a loss of 108 killed and wounded 
upon the British — losing but nineteen themselves, — 
which wasn 't so bad for shot guns. 

Jackson had made a capital mistake in providing so 
imperfectly for the defense of the right bank; and if 
Pakenham had been a soldier of original ability he might 
have deprived Jackson of all the advantages of his posi- 
tion behind the Rodriguez Canal. 

As it was, the loss of life among the officers of the 
British army had been so great, and the spirit of the 
troops was so much broken, that General Lambert was 
not prepared to follow up the British victory on the 
right bank. 

After a few days of hesitation, he abandoned the 
expedition against New Orleans, and Jackson returned 
to the city to enjoy the honors of a well-won triumph. 

Note. — The official report of the Medical Director of the, British 
army shows the following losses to the enemy, in the battle of 
January 8, 1815: 

Killed on the field 381 

Died of wounds 477 — 858 

Wounded and permanently disabled 1,251 

Wounded and temporarily disabled 1,217 — 2,468 

Total 3,326 

Of this number, 3,000 were struck by rifle bullets. 

The cannon, and the muskets of the regulars, struck 
only 326. 

The American loss was, 8 killed, and 13 wounded. 
The Choctaws furnished 8 of the casualties, or more than 
a third. 



15 aj 



218 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

There was no electric telegraph in 1815 to flash the 
news of Jackson's great victory to the nations of the 
world; but, nevertheless, the tidings flew, almost on the 
wings of the wind. Throughout the United States, the 
Battle of New Orleans was soon on every tongue, and in 
almost every town and city there were illuminations and 
other public demonstrations of joy. 

The effect in America and in Europe was immense. 
At a bound, the national self-respect was restored. In 
Paris, Henry Clay, one of the Ghent Commissioners, 
exclaimed: "Now I can go to England without 
mortification. ' ' 

Even Napoleon, in the hurry and the trials of the 
Hundred Days, found time to inquire about New Orleans 
and the wonderful rifle which had destroyed the British. 

The Duke of Wellington, who was reinforced by Gen- 
eral Lambert, and the troops from New Orleans on the 
morning of Waterloo, could hardly credit the story of 
their utter defeat. A gruesome detail was the home- 
coming of the bodies of Generals Pakenham and Gibbs, 
inclosed in casks of rum. 

In New Orleans itself a formal and elaborate cere- 
monial was prepared, and Jackson, passing beneath a 
triumphal arch, where young girls gave him crowns of 
laurel, paused to receive and answer the address of con- 
gratulation from Father Dubourg, a Catholic priest, and 
entered the Cathedral, where he sat, crowned, while a 
Te Deum was celebrated. 

Soon after it was evident that the war was really 
over, Mrs. Jackson came down to New Orleans, bringing 
the General's adopted son, Andrew, then seven years old. 

All who describe her visit speak of her goodness, and 
leave the impression that she was much out of place in 
the elegant society into which events had thrown her. A 
coterie of Nashville ladies had come down the river with 
Aunt Eachel, and these adroit friends did the best they 
could in advising suitable dresses, etc. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 219 

Yet even the assiduous care of these Nashville chap- 
erones could not avail when General Jackson himself 
took it into his head that he, tall and gaunt, should dance 
a break-down with Aunt Rachel, short and fat, before the 
cream of New Orleans society, and in the presence of 
some British officers. 

The spectacle that Jackson and his wife presented in 
such a performance must have been a heavy draft on the 
prestige of the hero. 

The truth is that the glory of Jackson was not 
enhanced by his conduct after the battle. He blundered 
in many things; and these blunders ranged all the way 
from insignificant trifles to matters of supreme and last- 
ing moment. 

He held the city of New Orleans in the iron grip of 
martial law, after all necessity for it had ceased. He 
refused to listen to any remonstrance upon the subject. 
When a citizen of the State and member of the Legisla- 
ture published a respectful protest, in which Jackson 
himself was eulogized in the highest terms, he clapped 
the citizen into jail. When a writ of habeas corpus was 
sued out in behalf of the prisoner, Jackson arrested the 
Judge who had issued the writ, and banished him! 

Apparently in a punitive spirit, he kept the Kentucky 
Militia on the west bank of the Mississippi, weltering in 
the mire and suffering almost every form of privation 
and discomfort, when all the other troops had been sent 
to comfortable quarters. 

The truth is, Jackson had blundered heavily in his 
arrangements on the west bank, and had narrowly 
escaped disaster: hence he was very angry with General 
Morgan and his Kentucky Militia on account of those 
Jacksonian mistakes. That is human nature. 

But these errors^ grave as they are, pale into noth- 
ingness in comparison with Jackson's ruthless act in 
having six of his own men shot for alleged mutiny and 
desertion. 

It was the old story of the dispute between officers 
and men as to the length of the enlistment. 



220 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

By Act of Congress, three months was the limit of 
military service for volunteers, during any one year. 
Under special circumstances, this general law might be 
varied, but these special circumstances did not exist in 
this case. Therefore, according to the plain letter of the 
highest law, the volunteers who answered the call of the 
Governor of Tennessee could not be required to serve 
more than three months. 

It is true that Jackson wanted six months' men, and 
had prevailed upon Governor Blount to call for six 
months' men; but there is no evidence that the men 
understood that the Governor and the General meant to 
override the law of the United States. It is doubtful 
whether a single volunteer closely read the terms of the 
proclamation. 

Be that as it may, it is certain that a considerable 
number of the men enlisted upon the belief that they 
were to serve but three months, as per Act of Congress. 
When this term was up, they refused to serve longer and 
went home. When General Jackson ordered them back 
to camp, they went. Then six of the "ringleaders" were 
courtmartialed and shot. 

One of these victims was Captain Strother, who, by 
the evidence of the fifteen witnesses, had done all in his 
power to keep the men from going away, and who had 
not himself left camp. 

Another of the six had returned upon the faith of a 
written pardon, signed by a general officer. Jackson 
had him shot, just the same. 

Another was an illiterate Baptist preacher, named 
Harris, who had left his wife and eight little children, to 
go to the army along with his son, that he might share 
his hardships and relieve them as far as he could. Before 
leaving camp at the expiration of the three months ' term 
for which he had enlisted, the poor, illiterate preacher 
had given up his gun to the proper officer, and gotten 
back his receipt for it. Harris went on home, but imme- 
diately returned to camp when he learned that General 
Jackson had so ordered. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 221 

To kill this man was murder, and a most atrocious 
murder, at that. 

No forms of law can hide, disfigure or excuse the act 
itself — it was cold-blooded, ruthless, indefensible 
murder. 

Parton makes much of the fact that some of these 
victims of military despotism had refused to do sentinel 
duty on the last day of the three months' term. He 
argues that even by their construction of the term of 
enlistment, they should have done duty on this last day. 
Not so. In law, where a duty is to be performed a cer- 
tain number of days, only the first or the last day is to 
be counted. Consequently, the volunteers were acting 
within their strict legal rights. 

When did General Jackson sign the death-warrant 
which doomed these six men who had marched so 
patiently and fought so bravely under him for three 
months? 

He signed it after the Battle of New Orleans: he 
signed it after the British had gone away: he signed it 
after he knew that the war was over; he signed it after 
that glorification of himself in the Catholic cathedral; 
he signed it after peace had been declared between Great 
Britain and the United States! 

If ever there was a time when a wave of softening 
emotions might have rolled over his soul, filling him with 
compassion and tenderness and magnanimity, surely it 
was during those days following his great victory, when 
all danger had passed, when children were strewing his 
path with flowers, and when the inspirina* strflins r>f 
melody within the House of God might have melted a 
heart of stone. 

Straight from these scenes,- cv..: jlh; 

relentless, — the victor went to writo iiis name to scroll of 
doom to six of his fellow-Christians, — men who had 
fought for their country as an act of voluntary patriot- 
ism, men who had no ambition for renown, men who 
believed that they had acted within their rights as citi- 
zens of Tennessee and the Union. 



222 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

What possible good could come from the miltary 
execution of those six men? It was too late for the 
"example" to have any influence upon the troops. The 
war was ended. The other troops were going home. 
Hinds' Mississippi mounted men, Adair's Kentuckians, 
the Tennesseans of Carroll and Coffee, — all were about 
to leave for home. Why would it not have had the 
happiest effect to have given these six condemned men 
back to Tennesse, back to home, back to wife and child? 

What earthly good could it do to shoot them to death? 
None. And their barbarous murder is a huge black spot 
on the record of Andrew Jackson, which all the years 
that are to come will never wash away. 

Afterwards, when Jackson became a candidate for 
presidential office, the execution of the six militiamen 
became a source of great embarrassment to him and to 
his campaign managers. Statements were put forth, 
explaining and justifying the deed. 

General Jackson's own account of the matter is full 
of glaring and material falsehoods, — just as his state- 
ment concerning poor John Woods contains misstate- 
ments which altogether change the nature of the case. 

The execution of six of his soldiers was an outrage 
for which no punishment could be meted out to him, but 
in his arbitrary proceedings against Judge Hall, Jackson 
came to grief. No sooner was martial law at an end than 
Judge Hall returned to New Orleans, full of rage and 
full of a determination to try conclusions with the Hero 
of New Orleans. The Judge issued a Rule Nisi, requir- 
ing re General to show cause why he should not be 
punished for contempt of court for his disregard of the 
writ of habeas corpus, in the case mentioned. 

Jackson app-^ared, was summarily adjudged in con- 
tempt, and was perex^.ptorily ordered to pay into court a 
fine of $1,000 within four days. He paid it promptly — 
thus confessing that his conduct could not be legally 
justified. 

I have wondered why so pugnacious a man as Jackson 
made so complete and sudden a surrender to Judge Hall. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 223 

The case involved a great principle, and Jackson had his 
right of appeal to the higher court. But he hastily capitu- 
lated and paid his fine, — acting probably under the 
advice of Edward Livingston. Many years afterwards. 
Congress refunded the money to the General, with 
interest. 

On his way home from New Orleans, General Jackson 
was disagreeably reminded of his former intimate rela- 
tions with Aaron Burr. His baggage was attached at the 
instance of Herman Blennerhasset, who believed that 
Jackson still had in his hands certain funds of Burr, left 
over after the building of those boats at Clover Bottom. 
However, General Coffee and General Jackson both 
swore that there had been a full settlement with Burr, in 
December, 1806, and the garnishment (served by attach- 
ment) was dismissed. 

After this delay of a week, the General resumed his 
journey home. 

Our readers can readily imagine the scenes as the 
Conquering Hero neared Nashville. Tennessee was 
aglow with joy and pride, and the welcome given to the 
General was one which was full of spontaneous and 
enthusiastic admiration. Old feuds were forgotten; the 
execution of the six volunteers was not known: Jackson's 
personal enemies were silent; and the glory of his 
crowning triumph over the British was undimmed by a 
single cloud. The weeks which followed this return home 
from New Orleans were probably the happiest of the 
General's life. 

In October, 1815, military matters made it necessary 
for the General to set out for Washington. His journey, 
so far as he would permit it, was a triumphal progress. 
Everybody along the route wanted to see the Hero of 
New Orleans. At Lynchburg, there was a grand banquet 
in his honor, and Thomas Jefferson, then seventy-two 
years old, attended. He toasted Jackson and his men, 
while Jackson proposed "James Monroe, Secretary of 
War." In Washington, the General was lionized, — a 
number of receptions and banquets being given in his 



224 LIFE AND TIME? OF JACKSON. 

honor. At these funtions he bore himself with tact and 
dignity, leaving a fine impression upon all who met him. 
The army now being reduced to a peace-footing of ten 
thousand men, two Major Generals were named for chief 
command, — General Brown for the Northern, and Gen- 
eral Jackson for the Southern Division. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 225 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Had it not been for the South and the West, the War 
of 1812 would have carried the frontiers of Canada to 
the Gulf of Mexico. New England would, by treaty with 
Great Britain, have emerged from the struggle as a sep- 
arate Confederacy, or would have gone down in the 
general overturn. The Great West, from the Mississippi 
to the Pacific, would either have reverted to Spain or 
been seized by the British. 

However extravagant this statement may appear, one 
has but to weigh the facts of history to be convinced ot 
its truth. General Hull had invaded Canada, had made 
a miserable failure, had surrendered his army and 
Detroit, and all Michigan had fallen to the enemy. What 
hindered the entire Northwest from being won by the 
British and Indians? The Western troops who marched 
in ragged cotton clothes, over frozen ground, with bare 
and bleeding feet to stem the tide of Tecumseh's and 
Proctor's conquest by striking the enemy on the River 
Raisin, at Tippecanoe and on the Thames. 

What prevented the invading forces of General Ross 
and Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane from doing unto 
Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia what they had 
done to the city of Washington? The resolution of such 
heroic souls as John Eager Howard, who inspired Mary- 
land to fight, as she did fight when Ross was killed and 
the British fleet beaten off. 

What prevented the seasoned troops of Pakenham 
from seizing New Orleans, severing the West from the 
Union, and joining hands with the British of the North- 
west? The riflemen of the South who, having first 
destroyed Great Britain's Indian allies, beat off her 
crack regiments at New Orleans. 

Without the support of the Western troops, the vic- 
tories of Perry and McDonough on the Lakes would have 
been barren of results. Without the riflemen of the 
South, Pakenham 's veterans would not have encountered 



226 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

anywhere in the Union a force able to oppose them. Had 
there been no Battle of New Orleans, it is practically 
certain that the war would have dragged on, with one 
American defeat following another, until the Battle of 
Waterloo, releasing the British in Europe, would have 
enabled Wellington to take chief command in America. 
Under such a captain. Great Britain, concentrating her 
energies for the purpose of subduing the United States, 
would almost certainly have beaten us into helpless pros- 
tration. Fortunate indeed would we have been had we 
escaped with the loss of the Northwest Territory, the 
Louisiana Purchase, the Floridas and the Great Lakes. 

If the Union at that crisis had depended upon the 
Federalists who controlled New England, the conquest of 
the United States would have been to the British a mili- 
tary parade. So well known was this spirit of disaffec- 
tion, that the Governor General of Canada sent a repre- 
sentative — Mr. John Henry — to Boston, to live there, 
communicate with the natives, and make reports, just as 
though Massachusetts were a separate, independent 
State, friendly to Great Britain and hostile to the Gov- 
ernment at Washington. 

Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts defied 
the President and Congress, refusing to furnish their 
quota of troops for the army. They demanded that a 
portion of the Federal taxes collected within their 
borders be turned over to the State authorities, in order 
that these States might provide for their separate 
defense. New England capitalists invested but slightly 
in the United States bonds, offered for the purpose of 
securing funds to prosecute the war. These patriots 
preferred to help the enemy by putting their money in 
English bills of credit. New England farmers and mer- 
chants kept the enemy supplied with clothing and provi- 
sions, at a time when the American troops were ill-clad 
and half-starved. Finally, the Federalists, in the midst 
of the war, held the Hartford Convention, made certain 
demands of the general government, and expressed the 
opinion that it was not only the right of each State to 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 227 

nullify Acts of Congress, where the State considered 
such legislation unconstitutional, but to withdraw from 
the Union when the central authority violated the 
reserved rights of the State. 

The intention of these Federalists was to break up 
the Union, and form New England into a separate Con- 
federacy, unless their demands were conceded. 

Nothing but the back-down of Mr. Madison and the 
practical surrender of our Government of the principles 
for which it was fighting, kept the Hartford Convention 
from having a successor, — another Secession Conven- 
tion, — which would have taken the Puritan States out of 
the Union. 

Quite narrowly, therefore, we missed a national bless- 
ing of incalculable value. With New England out of the 
Union, we would have had no century of spoliation of the 
agricultural sections in the interest of Eastern capital- 
ists ; no Civil War, with its crushing legacies of class-law 
and unequal conditions; no enslavement of unprivileged 
millions of whites, and no sudden injection into the body 
politic of a horde of black savages to create, in the public 
service, the eternal "Nigger Question" and to over- 
shadow the social world with the ever-present terror of 
''the Black Peril." 

In Buell's "Life of Jackson" is found, for the first 
time, the statement that the victory at New Orleans 
saved to us the Louisiana Purchase. Buell claims to 
have had the story from Governor William Allen himself : 

"Near the end of General Jackson's second administration, and 
shortly after the admission of Arkansas to the Union, I, being 
Senator-elect from Ohio, went to Washington to take the seat on 
March 4th. 

"General Jackson — he always preferred to be called General 
rather than Mr. President, and so we always addressed him by his 
military title — General Jackson invited me to lunch with him. No 
sooner were we seated than he said, 'Mr. Allen, let us take a little 
drink to the new star in the flag — Arkansas!' This ceremony being 
duly observed, the General said, 'Allen, if there had been disaster 
instead of victory at New Orleans, there never would have been a 
State of Arkansas.' 

"This, of course, interested me, and I asked, 'Why do you say 
that. General?' 

"Then he said, 'If Pakenham had taken New Orleans, the British 



228 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

would have claimed that the treaty of Ghent, which had been 
signed fifteen days before the battle, provided for restoration of all 
territory, places, and possessions taken by either nation from the 
other during the war, with certain unimportant exceptions.' 

' "Yes, of course,' I replied. 'But the minutes of the conference 
at Ghent as kept by Mr. Gallatin, represent the British commis- 
sioners as declaring in exact words: 

" ' "We do not admit Bonaparte's construction of the law of 
nations. We cannot accept it in relation to any subject-matter 
before us." 

" 'At that moment,' pursued General Jackson, 'none of our com- 
missioners knew what the real meaning of these words was. When 
they were uttered, the British commissioners knew that Pakenham's 
expedition had been decided on. Our commissioners did not know 
it. Now, since I have been Chief Magistrate I have learned from 
diplomatic sources of the most unquestionable authority that the 
British ministry did not intend the treaty of Ghent to apply to the 
Louisiana Purchase at all. The whole corporation of them from 
1803 to 1815 — Pitt, the Duke of Portland, Greenville, Percival, 
Lord Liverpool and Castlereagh — denied the legal right of Napoleon 
to sell Louisiana to us, and they held therefore, that we had no right 
to that territory. So you see, Allen, that the words of Mr. Goulburn 
on behalf of the British commissioners, which I have quoted to you 
from Albert Gallatin's minutes of the conference, had a far deeper 
significance than our commissioners could penetrate. These words 
were meant to lay the foundation for a claim on the Louisiana Pur- 
chase entirely external to the provisions of the treaty of Ghent. 
And in that way the British government was signing a treaty with 
one hand while with the other behind its back it is despatching 
Pakenham's army to seize the fairest of our possessions. 

" 'You can also see, my dear William,' said the old General, 
waxing warm (having once or twice more during the luncheon 
toasted the new star), 'you can also see what an awful mess sucu 
a situation would have been if the British programme had been 
carried out in full. But Providence willed it otherwise. All the 
tangled web that the cunning of English diplomats could weave 
around our unsuspecting commissioners at Ghent was torn to 
pieces and soaked with British blood in half an hour at New Orleans 
by the never missing rifles of my Tennessee and Kentucky pioneers. 
And that ended it. British diplomacy could do wonders, but it 
couldn't provide against such a contingency as that. The British 
commissioners could throw sand in the eyes of ours at Ghent, but 
they couldn't help the cold lead that my riflemen sprinkled in the 
faces of their soldiers at New Orleans. Now, Allen, you have the 
whole story. Now you know why Arkansas was saved at New 
Orleans. Let's take another little one.' " 

Between tlie War of 1812 and the first Seminole War, 
there remained for Jackson some months of rest and 
recuperation at his home, the Hermitage. To the success- 
ful management of this estate, Aunt Rachel contributed 
in a way that reminds one of the ancient Germanic sys- 
tem in which the husband was the warrior, while the wife 
was the mistress of household and farm. So thriftily did 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 229 

Mrs. Jackson conduct business affairs at the Hermitage, 
and so keen was the General in money matters that he 
soon became the richest man in Tennessee. Like Wash- 
ington, he was patriotic to the core, and to him, as to 
Washington, business was business. 

During the Revolutionary War, as is well known, 
Washington served without pay. That was patriotism. 
But he wrote to his overseer at Mt. Vernon, ordering him 
to refuse continental paper and demand coin, for wheat 
and tobacco. That was business. 

Now, Andrew Jackson was intensely patriotic. Also, 
human. He held on to his commission as Major General 
in the regular army, for several reasons. One was that 
he dearly loved power and distinction ; another was that 
he dearly loved to hear himself called ''General"; 
another was that he was fondly attached to the salary 
and perquisites. In all of this there was no lack of 
exalted patriotism, but, at the same time, there was lots 
of human nature. 

The salary itself was quite a boon in that era of 
sparsity of ready cash; and, then, again, the beauty of it 
was, it was so regular. Floods did not wash it away, 
and droughts did not wither it up. 

But if the salary was good, what shall we say of the 
perquisites? Mere words but feebly essay to give you a 
comprehension of the luxury of these perquisites. 

Eemember that General Jackson was living on his 
plantation, lodging in his own house, eating at his own 
table, burning his own wood to warm the domestic 
hearth, and being served by his own slaves. Notwith- 
standing this, the Government was made to pay him his 
customary perquisites, just as though he were living in 
some city, in a hired house, where he was charged for 
fuel, for servants, and for corn and fodder for his horses. 
Thus in 1820, while Jackson was at home, attending to 
his farm and planning for the Presidency, we find him 
charging the Government four hundred dollars for the 
rent of his own house, two hundred and forty dollars for 
the hire of his own slaves, four hundred and thirty-two 



230 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

dollars for the food and clothing of these slaves, one 
thousand and ninety-eight dollars for extra rations, and 
six hundred and seventy-two dollars for tlie corn and 
fodder and hay that his negroes fed to his horses ! Here 
was a total of nearly three thousand dollars which the 
hero of New Orleans pocketed, in one year of peace, upon 
the supposition that he was paying out those various 
sums for maintenance and support. 

How blind is partisan passion ! Henry Clay and John 
C. Calhoun strove mightily against the grim soldier of 
Tennessee, hurling at him many a Jovian thunderbolt. 
These rolled over his head harmlessly. Had Jackson's 
enemies examined his accounts at the war office, and pro- 
claimed in the House and in the Senate the cold facts of 
record, Jackson's popularity might have been mortally 
wounded. 

Think how the items of that account would have 
struck the average voter! What? Charge the Govern- 
ment $400 for the rent of his own house? and $224 for the 
oak and hickory wood cut on his own farm? and $672 for 
the hire, food and clothing of his own slaves? and $672 
for feeding his own forage to his own horses? and $1,098 
for extra rations? We think that a frost would have 
bitten the Jacksonian popularity had these facts been 
well handled. 

What was the cause of the first Seminole war? It is 
the same old story. The Indian had no rights that a 
white man felt bound to respect. The Puritan, the 
Quaker, the Cavalier — differ as they might in other 
things, they were practically the same when dealing with 
Poor Lo'. William Penn looks the ideal of benevolence 
in that historic and familiar picture where he is repre- 
sented as a just man made perfect — giving the entranced 
red man a red bead for a hundred acres of red land. Or, 
perhaps, it was a red blanket for a thousand acres of 
land. At any rate, the benevolent Penn, after finishing 
the friendly smoke with the hypnotized sachems, and 
securing the grant of as much land as one man could 
walk around in one day, was so favored of Providence as 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 231 

to* find a man — Quaker, of course — who managed to walk 
around one hundred and fifty miles of Indian land in one 
day. As to Puritan and Cavalier, it is difficult to say 
which was the more unscrupulously atrocious in extermi- 
nating the natives who had fed Jamestown and Plymouth 
through their ''starving times" and warmed them into 
the strength which was the doom of the Indian. 

In the West and in the South, the methods adopted 
by the whites for getting land from the red men were 
identical. Crafty Christians would bribe or debauch a 
few Indians to sign away millions of acres which 
belonged in common to the whole tribe; and then, when 
the tribe refused to leave the land, the rifle was the writ 
of ejectment. 

One illustration of the manner, in which William 
Henry Harrison operated has been given; but, as thor- 
oughly characteristic of ''the white man's way," we cite 
his dealing with the Sac and Foxes. 

In 1804, Black Hawk, chief of these tribes, sent four 
of his men to St. Louis to treat with General Harrison 
for the liberation of an Indian who had killed a white 
man. These four envoys of Black Hawk were kept in St. 
Louis, were plied with whiskey, day after day, and were 
persuaded to sign a treaty in which they ceded to the 
United States fifty-four million acres of the finest land 
in the world. The consideration was the liberation of 
the Indian prisoner and the annual payment to the tribes 
of $1,000. After the four drunken envoys had "touched 
the pen" and the treaty was duly signed, the prisoner 
was released. As he was running away, the whites shot 
him dead! 

This infamous transaction caused the Sacs and the 
Foxes to side with the British in the War of 1812, and 
also led to the "Black Hawk War" in which Abraham 
Lincoln took part. 

It is an awful thing to remember that the popularity 
which carried General Harrison into the Presidency of 
the United States had its foundation in crimes like this. 
But in the South the record is no less black, no less reek- 
ing of wrong and wantonly-shed human blood. 



232 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The first Seminole war grew out of the fact that the 
Indians preferred to fight rather than surrender their 
fruitful farms. 

The Florida Indians never did number more than five 
or six thousand souls. Therefore they could not, at the 
height of their power, bring a thousand warriors together 
into the field. 

Rev. Jedediah Mofse, U. S. Commissioner, reported 
(1820) that ''Before the wars of 1812 and since, these 
Indians with their negro slaves lived in comfort, and 
many of them were wealthy in cattle and horses. But 
these wars have broken them up, destroyed great num- 
bers of their warriors and chiefs ; also their villages and 
cattle, and thrown them into a state most distressing and 
pitiable." 

Capt. John R. Bell, in a report to the Secretary of 
War, said of the Seminoles : ' ' They are honest, speak the 
truth, and are attached to the British and Americans." 

In 1812, a band of white marauders from Georgia, 
commanded by Colonel Newnan, invaded the Seminole 
territory, attacked the town of King Payne (situated in 
what is now Alachua County, Flotida,) and had a pitched 
battle with the Indians. The whites were victorious and 
among the killed, of the red men, was King Payne. 

The half-breed chief. Gen. William Mcintosh, of 
Georgia, led forays into Florida at about the same time, 
burning and destroying and plundering, and carrying 
off negroes. 

J. A. Peniere, the first U. S. Commissioner to the 
Florida Indians, stated in an official report (1821) 
*'that seven years before some self-styled 'patriots' com- 
mitted great ravages among the Europeans and friendly 
Indians. Almost all the houses were burnt, the domes- 
tic animals killed, and the slaves carried off." 

Note that last statement, for it is the keynote to the 
explanation of the wherefore of the marauding expedi- 
tions. Many negroes had joined the Seminoles, some of 
them being refugees from the Bahamas and the West 
Indian Islands, and some of them being runaway slaves 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 233 

from South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The Semi- 
noles made use of these fugitives, treating a few as 
allies, but making slaves of the greater number of them. 
Indian masters were so much more lenient than were the 
whites, that the negroes were but too glad to remain with 
the Seminoles. To border ruffians what a temptation 
were these negroes! To gather up a lawless band of 
whites on the Chattahoochee, or the St. Mary's, and 
make a dash upon the unsuspecting Indians, the object 
being to capture negroes ! — how alluring the prospect of 
rich booty! It was so much easier to capture the 
Florida negroes than to' cross the ocean and seek slaves 
on the West Coast of Africa! It requires no great 
amount of sagacity to get at the secret of these border 
troubles, and to discover that the Seminole War fur- 
nished one more illustration of the truth of Kit Carson's 
statement, — ''All Indian wars have had their origin in 
bad white men. ' ' 

In the latter part of the year 1814, the British erected 
a fort on the left bank of the Appalachicola River, about 
twenty-five miles from its bay. This fort, with its very 
valuable contents, — cannon, small arms and ammunition 
in large quantities — was turned over to the negroes and 
Seminoles by Colonel Nichols, of the British service. In 
some way, the negroes ousted the Seminoles, and the 
fortress soon took the dreaded and hated name of "The 
Negro Fort." In Barton's "Life of Jackson," the facts 
concerning the negroes who held possession of this place 
are slurred over in the most slovenly manner. Barton 
says it is "alleged" that the negroes had committed 
depredations, not only upon the Americans and Span- 
iards, but upon the Seminoles ; and that, for this reason, 
Spaniards and Seminoles, as well as Americans, were 
nursing wrath against the detestable fort and the ban- 
ditti who manned it. 

Had Barton taken the trouble to investigate for him- 
self, he would have learned that Gen. E. B. Gaines, in an 
official report to the War Department, (May 14, 1815,) 
expressly states that "while the occupants" (of the fort) 

16 a j 



234 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

"were charged with no crimes, he would keep a watch 
on their movements." 

Even while laying plans to destroy the fortification, 
the whites did not accuse the negroes of having used it 
for any criminal purpose. On May 16th, 1816, we find 
General Andrew Jackson writing to General Gaines, as 
follows : 

' ' I have little doubt of the fact that this fort has been 
established by some villains for the purpose of rapine 
and plunder." 

Not that the negroes had wronged the Americans by 
holding the fort, but because Jackson had a suspicion 
that rapine and plunder were intended, it must be 
destroyed ! 

It is the same Jackson as he who had denounced the 
Lafitte smugglers as *'a hellish banditti," and who was, 
a few days later, glad to accept the heroic and unselfish 
aid of this hellish banditti in defending New Orleans. 

The Negro Fort was on Spanish territory, sixty 
miles from the Georgia line, — what right did the Ameri- 
cans have to attack itf 

Most of those who held the fort were of the free- 
negro class, called Maroons. They were industrious 
farmers and cultivated land along the banks of the Appa- 
lachicola for fifty miles. Many of them were wealthy, 
in a small way, and their prosperity was a temptation to 
lawless white borderers. In view of the fact that raids 
were being made into Florida by the Creeks, under Gen. 
William Mcintosh, and by the Georgians, under such 
marauders as Colonel Newnan, it was natural that the 
negroes should prize such a "house of refuge" as the 
fort on Prospect Bluff. 

But the planters of the lower South detested the 
Negro Fort, for the reason that it offered such conven- 
ient shelter for runaway slaves. 

Here, then, we have the true motives which led the 
Americans to invade Florida and blow up the fortress. 

In July, 1817, General Gaines sent a detachment of 
one hundred and sixteen men from Fort Scott down the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 235 

Appalachicola, to co-operate with a convoy that was on 
its way to Fort Scott from New Orleans. It is reasonable 
to suppose that the negroes had scouts or sentinels on 
the watch out, and that the approach of these enemies 
was known at the Fort. As at Fowltown, Gaines so man- 
aged the affair as to force his victims to the conclusion 
that a fight was inevitable. The whites afterwards said 
that the negroes fired first, but, as at Fowltown, it is 
immaterial who fired first. 

The demonstration made against the Negro Fort, 
like that made against Fowltown, was a declaration 
and an act of war. Therefore, the whites were the 
aggressors. 

A hot shot from one of the vessels of the convoy 
dropped into the powder magazine of the fort, and there 
was a terrific explosion which demolished the fortress 
and killed, instantly, two hundred and seventy-five of its 
occupants. Of the other sixty-four inmates, many died 
from injuries, and only three escaped unhurt. Two of 
these, the negro chief and a Choctaw chief, were tor- 
tured to death to avenge a white prisoner, taken during 
the campaign against the fort, who had been tarred and 
burnt alive. 



236 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

In an official investigation, David B. Mitchell, who 
was twice Governor of Georgia, testified under oath, 
that "the first outrage committed on the frontier of 
Georgia, after the treaty of Fort Jackson (1814) was by 
a party of these banditti (lawless white men) who plun- 
dered a party of Seminole Indians on their way to 
Georgia for the purpose of trade, killing one of them. 
This produced retaliation on the part of the Indians." 

The following extract from a proclamation of Peter 
Early, Governor of Georgia, corroborates Mitchell and 
sustains the claim of the Indians that the lawless white 
borderers were seizing their farms: 

"Whereas, I have received repeated information that 
divers persons, citizens of this State, are making settle- 
ments on the Indian lands contiguous to our frontier by 
clearing ground and preparing to raise crops thereon. 
And whereas, such trespasses, in addition to the severe 
punishment annexed to them, are at this time peculiarly 
improper, I have therefore thought fit to issue this proc- 
lamation warning all persons against perseverence in or 
repetition of such unwarrantable procedures. And do 
hereby require all persons, citizens of this State, who 
have made any settlement ... on the Indian lands, 
forthwith to abandon the same . . ." 

The above proclamation was published April 25, 
1814. Not being backed up by force of arms, it had no 
effect. The whites pushed their advance farther and 
farther, until the Seminoles were driven to measures of 
desperation. 

The Spanish Governor of St. Augustine (December, 
1812,) complained bitterly to the Governor of Georgia 
of the manner in which the Georgians encroached upon 
the Florida Indians. 

" . . But the Indians, you say — well, sir, why 
wantonly provoke the Indians, if you dislike their rifle 
and tomahawk? General Matthews told Payne, in the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 237 

square of Latchuo, that he intended to drive him from 
his lands. Mcintosh sent a message to Bowlegs, another 
Indian chief, that he intended to make him as a waiting 
man; the Florida Convention (Patriots) partitioned 
their (the Indians') lands amongst their volunteers, as 
appears by a certificate in my possession signed by 
Director Mcintosh; the Indian trade was destroyed by 
you and your friends, and they (the Indians) found that, 
from the same cause, they were to be deprived of their 
annual presents. These, sir, are the provocations about 
which you are silent . . . The Indians are to be 
insulted, threatened, and driven from their homes; if 
they resist, nothing less than extermination is to be their 
fate. But you deceive yourself, sir, if you think the 
world is blind to your motives; it is not long since the 
State of Georgia had a slice of Indian lands, and the 
fever is again at its height. . . . " 

The present writer passes a portion of each winter 
in Florida, off that portion of the Everglades where the 
wretched remnant of the Seminole Nation now lingers. 
Some of the head-men of these perishing groups have 
visited him, bringing their wives and children. They are 
simple, cheerful, sociable folk, easily pleased and grate- 
ful for favors. The men are models of physical perfec- 
tion, and they seem to be most indulgent to their fami- 
lies. One of the head-men, an Apollo in bronze, con- 
sented to gratify my curiosity to see the war-dance. I 
shall never forget the gravity with which he did it, nor 
the uncontrollable and mocking laughter of his wife and 
his two sons as they looked on. The solemn chief took 
no notice of the merriment aroused in the bosom of his 
family by his performance. Poor children of nature ! — 
the whole group to which these visitors belonged was 
well-nigh exterminated by measles some months later. 

Curious to learn something of the traditions which 
had been handed down, among the whites, about the 
Seminole wars, I made inquiries to which the answers 
were invariably the same. The Seminoles on the Geor- 
gia frontier had splendid, well-stocked plantations. 



238 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

They were excellent farmers and a quiet, good-natured, 
honest, loyal people. But the Georgians crossed over 
the line and squatted on the Indian land. White men 
would not only drive the Seminole off his farm, but 
seize his cattle also. Then, when the Indians rose in 
mass, the whites called for the troops. The rest is his- 
tory, — and history is generally the conquerer's gloss- 
over of his wrong-doing. 

White men who would never think of robbing one 
another, will unite to rob an Indian. Do we not remem- 
ber that Abraham Lincoln's uncle said that it was a 
virtuous deed to shoot an Indian on sight? and that Gen- 
eral Sherman declared "the only good Indian is a dead 
Indian"? 

Yet the whites who have lived among them, are those 
who have praised them most highly. Gen. Sam Houston, 
after spending many years among them, defended them 
in glowing terms in the United States Senate; and Col. 
Ben. Hawkins, the trusted friend of Washington, 
declared, in substance, that the greatest obstacle to' 
peaceful management of the red men was the rapacity of 
the whites. 

Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, of the U. S. Army, was the 
hot-head who precipitated the first Seminole war. In 
November, 1817, his "talks" to the chiefs were couched 
in this conciliatory vein : 

"You Seminoles are a bad people. You have mur- 
dered my people, stolen my cattle and many good horses 
that cost me money. I know it is so and you know it is 
so. ' ' And more to the same effect. 

The insulted and threatened Seminoles naturally 
"talked back," saying that where one American had 
been killed by Indians, four Indians had been killed by 
Americans. 

This intemperate General Gaines, as we have seen, 
was stationed at Fort Scott, near the junction of the 
Chattahoochee and the Flint. Fourteen miles south of 
the fort was Fowltown, an Indian village, containing 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 239 

forty-five warriors. The chief of this town contended 
that the Treaty of Fort Jackson did not cede any lands 
east of the Flint Eiver. A reading of "Article I" of 
that document seems to prove that the chief was right. 
The names of some obscure water-courses are mentioned 
in the treaty, and these are not shown on the maps ; but 
so far as we can judge from the language used, the 
eastern boundaries of the ceded lands do not go across 
the Flint. At all events, it would have required a sur- 
vey, officially made, to establish the right of the whites 
to eject the Fowltown Indians from their homes. And 
no such survey had been made. Right or wrong, the 
whites were determined to drive the red men away. 

To Colonel Twiggs, in command prior to Gaines'' 
coming, the chief had said, "The land is mine. Don't 
come on the east side of the river. I am directed by the 
powers above to defend our homes, and I will do it." 

It was not even alleged that the Fowltown people 
had ever committed a single depredation upon the 
whites. The sole grudge that the Americans had against 
these Seminoles was that they refused to abandon their 
fertile plantations and move off from their ancestral 
home. 

The hot-head, Gaines, sent a runner to the Fowltown 
chief, ordering him to come to Fort Scott. The Indian 
refused to go. "I have already said all that I have 
to say." 

The feather-headed Gaines flew into a passion, like 
your true military martinet, and issued the order that 
was to cost hundreds of human lives and millions of 
dollars. 

He commanded Colonel Twiggs to take two hundred 
and fifty soldiers to "bring me the chief and his war- 
riors. In the event of resistance, treat them as enemies." 

Now, in the name of all that's holy, what right did 
General Gaines have to do anything like that? This 
chief had done nd wrong to any human creature. He was 
not under Gaines' jurisdiction. He was no more bound 
to obey the summons of Gaines than Gaines was bound 
to respect the orders of the chief. 



240 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Against this village of forty-five warriors, the white 
soldiers under Twiggs marched in the night, coming 
upon Fowltown just before daybreak, November 21st, 
1817. If the intention was merely to make prisoners, 
why did not Colonel Twiggs surround the little village, 
wait until daylight, and demand the surrender of the 
Indians? Nothing would have been easier. Not a drop 
of blood need have been shed. But the whites wanted 
war. Gaines' ire was up. He, too, would be a hero 
•of the Jackson-Harrison sort. Consequently, Colonel 
Twiggs was directed to proceed in such a manner as 
necessarily impressed the Indians with the belief that 
they were being attacked. Hastily delivering a few 
shots, which did no harm, the Indians fled. The gallant 
whites fired upon the red people, killed two men and one 
woman, wounding several more. The gallant whites 
took possession of the deserted town, and the heroic 
Gaines, coming upon the scene at this the psychological 
moment, valiantly set fire to the town with his own 
martial hands. 

Thus the vainglorious officer had dramatically 
enacted Scene First in the play of military hero, and 
looked forward exultingly to the easily won triumphs 
ahead, which were to make for him a renown, similar to 
that of Jackson and Harrison. 

Alas! Fate was against the aspiring Gaines. The 
Secretary of War, Mr. Calhoun, did not know what 
Gaines was doing and planning, and, ignorant of the war 
which Gaines had begun, had ordered him to another 
field. These orders arriving soon after the Fowltown 
achievement, halted poor Gaines in mid-career, cast 
down his eager hopes, and brought Andrew Jackson to 
the front to continue this glorious war. By the time 
Gaines rejoined the Jackson army. Old Hickory himself 
had focussed attention. 

Inflamed by the one-sided statements which came to 
him at his home in Tennessee, General Jackson rushed 
to arms with the fury of an enraged bull. There were no 
doubts anywhere, nothing to debate, nothing to investi- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 241 

gate. All was as plain as day. Blood-thirsty Indians, 
English and Spanish villains, spies, and cut-throats had 
conspired to spread carnage along the frontier, pillage 
and slay in all directions — and these atrocious mis- 
creants must be annihilated. That was Jackson's way. 
He jumped at conclusions, and if he happened to jump 
the wrong way, the case was hopeless. Nobody could 
turn him, once his head was set. 

So, in this first Seminole war, he took the field with 
men enough to have won the fight for Texan independ- 
ence. In fact, he had so many troops that it was a 
heavy task to feed them. They had no fighting to do. 
The friendly Creeks, under Gen. William Mcintosh, did 
what little was necessary. By the time Jackson and 
Mcintosh reached the scene of hostilities, their forces 
amounted to 5,000 men ! Not a single band of Seminoles 
numbered one-tenth of that number, and if every one of 
these had united they would not have exceeded a thou- 
sand poorly equipped warriors. 

The building of the forts on the lower Flint and 
Chattahoochee, the series of depredations by white ban- 
ditti, the blowing up of the Negro Fort, and the wanton 
destruction of Fowltown caused the Seminoles to believe 
that they were to be crushed. British emissaries such as 
Nichols and Woodbine intensified these fears. Indeed, 
the marplot Nichols went so far as to make, in the name 
of Great Britain, a treaty, offensive and defensive, with 
Chief Francis and other Indians. So much in earnest 
was Nichols that he took Francis and other Indians to 
England with him, and the Seminole Chief was treated 
with distinction by the King and his court. While the 
British minister assured our Government that the 
Nichols treaty with the Indians was not taken seriously, 
it does not appear that the Indian Chief was undeceived. 

The attack upon Fowltown having been an act of 
unprovoked atrocity, the retaliation of the Seminoles 
was swift and bloody. They ambushed a party of whites 
— forty U. S. soldiers, seven women and four children — as 
they were ascending the Appalachicola in an open boat. 



242 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

on their way to Fort Scott. Four of the soldiers escaped 
by jumping into the river and swimming to the opposite 
bank ; one woman was led into captivity ; excepting these, 
every man, woman and child in the boat was either killed 
by the repeated volleys of the Indians or slaughtered 
after the red men rose from ambush and rushed upon 
the boat. 

A few days later, the Seminoles fired upon another 
detachment of U. S. soldiers boating their way to Fort 
Scott. Two of the Americans were killed and thirteen 
wounded. It is worth remarking that the Indians con- 
fined their warfare to the U. S. soldiers, — the Fort Scott 
people who had destroyed Fowltown and shot down the 
Indian woman, as well as several warriors. In fact, the 
Seminoles approached Fort Scott itself, kept up a scat- 
tering fire upon it for several days, and its gallant 
defenders not only did not attempt to drive the red men 
off, but seriously considered the evacuation of the post ! 

On March 9th, 1818, General Jackson arrived at Fort 
Scott. Crossing the river, he pushed on to Prospect 
Bluff, and established a fortress where the Negro Fort 
had stood. Here he awaited supplies and the concentra- 
tion of his troops. Gen. William Mcintosh, at the head 
of two thousand Creeks, was already in the field, shoot- 
ing down Seminole warriors wherever he found them, 
capturing women and children, burning houses, wasting 
with fire and sword whatever he could not carry away. 

By the 26th of March, the army of General Jackson 
was ready to move. On the 1st of April, it had its ''bap-' 
tism of fire." The Americans came upon some unsus- 
pecting Indians who were ''minding their cattle" in the 
open, unfenced woods. These Seminoles were certainly 
not on the warpath; their wives were with them helping 
about the cattle, and from the very nature of their occu- 
pation had every right to be treated as non-combatants. 
But General Jackson immediately ordered his troops to 
attack these peaceful herders. Fourteen of them were 
killed, and four of the women made prisoners : the others, 
escaped into the swamps. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 243 

This glorious victory over a little party of Seminole 
herders, was won by an army of about three thousand 
whites ! 

Pursuing his advance upon St. Marks, Jackson 
halted near the fort on the 6th of April. To the Spanish 
Governor, he sent a bullying and peremptory demand for 
the surrender of the fortress. The Governor, in almost 
cringing words of deference, denied that the Indians and 
negroes had ever obtained supplies, succor or encourage- 
ment from Fort St. Marks. On the contrary, he had 
refused such supplies and had incurred the hostility of 
the Seminoles by doing so. He had no authority from 
his government to surrender one of its fortifications. 
He requested that Jackson grant him time to write to his 
government. With a conciliatory courtesy that ought to 
have appealed to Jackson's better nature, he wrote: 
*'The sick your excellency 'sent in are lodged in the royal 
hospital, and I have afforded them every aid which cir- 
cumstances admit. I hope your excellency will give me 
further opportunities of evincing the desire I have to 
satisfy you." 

Here was the high-breeding of the best type of Old 
Castile. This Spaniard who was about to be compelled 
to drain a bitter cup of humiliation, had been asked by 
General Jackson to take care of Jackson's sick soldiers, 
and the Spaniard had lodged them in the royal hospital 
and had personally attended to their needs. Yet when 
the loyal officer of the King of Spain implores Jackson 
to believe him, as to the Indians and the negroes, and to 
grant him time to consult his superiors, — the headstrong 
Jackson instantly replied to' the Governor with an inso- 
lent message and a seizure of the Spanish fort. Not a 
single Indian was found in the town. Not a single negro 
bandit, brigand, villain or ex-slave was discovered. An 
inoffensive old Scotch merchant, named Arbuthnot, was 
there, a guest of the Governor, and he was taken into 
custody. 

Before Jackson's arrival at St. Marks, Captain 
McKeever, of the navy, had sailed into the harbor, dis- 



244 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

playing the English colors at his mast-head. Chief 
Francis saw the vessel, was duped by the British flag, 
and went off to the ship in a canoe, — he and another 
chief named Himollemico. The Indians were lured down 
to the Captain's cabin, "to take a drink," and while 
there seized by the sailors and bound with ropes. 

The next day the two chiefs were delivered to Gen- 
eral Jackson, who ordered them hanged at once. There 
was no form of trial; Jackson's command was sufficient; 
the two Indians, captured by a dastardly trick, were 
murdered by a barbarous exercise of despotic power. 

Himollemico was accused of torturing the prisoners 
taken by the Indians when they ambushed the boat of 
Lieutenant Scott, but there were no charges against 
Francis. His reputation was that of a model chief, intel- 
ligent and humane. To hang him, because he was trying 
to defend his country from invasion, was murder — and a 
very black one at that. 

After staying at St. Marks two days, the army 
pushed on to the Suwannee to attack the town of Chief 
Bowlegs. 

Again Mcintosh scoured the country, shooting at such 
Seminoles as he could find. In one skirmish he killed 
thirty-seven men, taking ninety-eight women and chil- 
dren, and six men prisoners. Mcintosh's force num- 
bered two thousand; that of the Seminoles one hundred 
and twenty. 

After a slight skirmish in which only one white 
soldier was seriously wounded, the invaders reached 
Suwannee. They found it a deserted village. For nearly 
three miles along the bank of the beautiful river, 
stretched three hundred well-built houses. It was here, 
more than a hundred miles from St. Marks, that the 
Seminoles of Chief Bowlegs farmed, raised cattle and 
hogs, — apparently having no thought of war. 

A letter which Arbuthnot had sent by an Indian 
runner to his son, instructing him to remove their mer- 
chandise to a place of safety, gave this peaceful Seminole 
settlement its first warning of danger. The Chief barely 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 245 

had time to put his women and children across the river, 
where the endless swamp gave them safety, when the 
whites appeared. But for the Arbuthnot letter, Suwannee 
would have been one more name of horror, — a reminder 
of ruthless, indiscriminate butchery of unoffending men, 
women and children. Great was the wrath of General 
Jackson when he saw that his prey had escaped him. 
Vengeful was his mood toward the old merchant who 
had written that letter! 

It is hardly necessary to say that every house at 
Suwanee was burnt, and that everything of value which 
was not destroyed was taken away. 

This was the end of the Seminole War. Glorious, 
wasn't it? Five thousand Americans and Creeks had 
been chasing little squads of Seminoles, burning houses, 
carrying off corn and cattle, and, so far as Jackson was 
concerned, he couldn't find anybody to fight excepting a 
score of cow-herders and an insignificant force at 
Suwannee. In this so-called Seminole War only one of 
Jackson's soldiers was kiled. If he had not taken the 
wrong view at the beginning, he would soon have real- 
ized that he had woefully blundered, that the Seminole 
Nation was not on the war-path, that the only Indians in 
the field were those that had been attacked, and that a 
conference and a treaty were the remedies demanded by 
the situation. 

But having started wrong, he was never able to get 
right; and his overbearing conduct toward the Span- 
iards, his summary execution of the two chiefs, and his 
unprovoked depredations on the non-combatant Semi- 
noles sowed the seeds of future trouble. So far from 
breaking the strength of the Seminoles, he merely filled 
them with an abiding sense of wanton outrage which 
was to smoulder, year after year, burning deeper with 
succeeding wrongs, and flaming out fiercely in the second 
Seminole War, when Osceola, for five years held at bay 
the military power of the United States. 

Returning to St. Marks, Jackson had the two white 
prisoners, Arbuthnot and Ambrister, court-martialed 
and executed. 



246 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Arbuthnot was charged with exciting the Indians to 
war against the United States, and of acting as a spy, 
aiding and comforting the enemy. 

This unfortunate man was condemned upon the testi- 
mony of one witness, who swore to the contents of a let- 
ter which he had read nearly a year before. The alleged 
letter was said to have been written by Arbuthnot to the 
Indian chief, Little Prince, advising him not to comply 
with the treaty of Fort Jackson, for the reason that under 
the treaty of Ghent the United States were bound to 
restore those lands to the Indians, and that, therefore, 
his Britannic Majesty would see to it that the lands were 
restored. 

Arbuthnot reminded the court that Indians never 
destroyed letters and documents, and prayed delay in 
order that the letter might be produced to show for itself 
what he had written. This plea was denied. The 
officers composing the court did the prisoner the gross 
injustice of allowing the contents of a paper to be given 
in evidence without the slightest effort to produce the 
letter itself, or to prove that it could not be produced. 
Arbuthnot feelingly complained of being made the victim 
of 'Hhe vagrant memory of a vagrant individual." Said 
he to the Court, ''Make this a rule of evidence, and where 
would implication, construction and invention stop? 
Whose property, whose reputation, whose life would 
be safe?" 

One of the witnesses used against the prisoner was 
Cook, who was under arrest, and whose own letters, then 
in the possession of the Court, proved that he had been 
one of the attacking party when Fort Scott was assailed 
by the Indians. But when Arbuthnot asked that Ambris- 
ter be called to testify in his behalf, the request was 
refused ! 

Everything was prejudiced in this wretched Seminole 
War, and the condemnation and hanging of the innocent 
old trader was a deed of the same character as the attack 
on Fowltown and the murder of Chief Francis. 

Ambrister was "tried" next. He was convicted and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 247 

sentenced to be shot. Then one of the officers relented, 
and a reconsideration of the sentence was had. Without 
additional light of any sort, the "Court" changed its 
mind and condemned the prisoner to be whipped, and 
imprisoned a year. Jackson arbitrarily set aside the 
sentence of his military tribunal and executed the one 
which it had set aside. He ordered the prisoner to' be 
shot, and the unhappy young man, — a Waterloo hero ! — 
was shot like a dog. 

In his case, there was no doubt that in behalf of the 
Seminoles he had taken the same position as that which 
LaFayette, Count Pulaski, and Baron De Kalb took in 
behalf of the American Colonies. The land of the Semi- 
noles being overrun by foreign invaders, he had espoused 
the cause of the oppressed and urged them to fight for 
their homes. What right did General Jackson have 
under the law of nations, or any other kind of law, to 
shoot this gallant, warm-hearted young man? None, — 
absolutely none. " 



248 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XX. 

On the 24tli of May, General Jackson took possession 
of Pensacola and Fort Barrancas, His excuse for this 
second outrage upon the helpless Spaniards was the 
threadbare pretence that Indians and outlaws had col- 
lected there, and that the Spanish Governor was furnish- 
ing supplies to these miscreants. Jackson's own story 
was that 550 Indians ''who I had dispersed east of the 
Apalachicola were harbored at Pensacola. I had positive 
proof." Yet after Jackson, over the written protest of 
the Governor, had seized the undefended town and fort, 
not a single Indian was found at the place ! Nor was a 
single person of any nationality discovered who could by 
any ingenuity of prejudice and hatred be shot or hanged. 
Jackson seemed to regret this very much, and wrote to 
his friend, George "W. Campbell, of Tennessee, "All I 
regret is that I had not stormed the works, captured the 
Governor, put him on trial for the murder of Stokes and 
his family, and hung him for the deed." 

It is possible that Indians may have massacred 
Stokes and his family, but in jumping at the conclusion 
that the Governor of Pensacola was a party to the crime, 
Jackson proves merely the blind fury of his own preju- 
dice. There was not a particle of evidence to support 
the preposterous accusation. 

Leaving a garrison at Fort Barrancas, Jackson 
moved his army homeward. First, however, came the 
inevitable proclamation, in which the world, through his 
soldiers, was told of the great things they had so bravely 
done in Florida, Of all military documents, this Pensa- 
cola output is the most vaingloriously ridiculous. Even 
Andrew Jackson's talent for verbal pomp encountered 
difficulties in the attempt to find something to boast of 
in this ill-conceived and bungling campaign. His army 
had not done any fighting, had done nothing but march, 
burn houses, drive off cattle and haul corn. Conse- 
quently, we find the proud General congratulating his 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 249 

noble troops upon the length of the march which they 
had made, under "immense difficulties." What these 
fearful obstacles were, one is not informed. The spring 
of the year isn't so very bad in Florida, and while sand- 
flies and mosquitoes are a nuisance, they have never 
been dignified with honorable mention in a military 
proclamation. 

At Pensacola, Jackson had brought the poor old Gov- 
ernor to a hasty capitJ^tion hj threatening to storm the 
ungarrisoned fortress. Alluding to this crisis of the 
campaign, Jackson says in his proclamation: "Your 
General cannot help admiring the spirit and military 
zeal manifested when it was signified that a resort to 
storming would be necessary." 

This is probably the first time any General ever 
thought it worth while to issue a formal statement telling 
his soldiers that he admired them because they showed 
that they were ready to fight, if necessary. 

When he comes to name the officers who had distin- 
guished themselves in the campaign, the strain on "your 
General" becomes tense. Your General, therefore, 
warmly praises Captain Gadsden for his good judgment 
in selecting the position for the batteries; and the "gal- 
lantry" of Captains McCall and Young, in aiding Cap- 
tain Gadsden to erect the batteries, is highly commended. 
Captain McKeever, of the navy, had landed two guns, to 
be used if needed, and to McKeever is awarded the Gen- 
eral's "warmest thanks." Fortimately, the McKeever 
guns were an idle surplus. A round or two from Jack- 
son's three cannon ended the splendid affair. 

"Your General" takes affectionate leave of such 
troops as he leaves behind, and hastens to Nashville to 
receive the ovation which his enthusiastic fellow citizens 
are preparing for the conquering hero. 

In the meantime, the international situation clouds 
up in a very ugly manner, indeed. Jackson 's high-handed 
doings in that brief campaign have made all sorts of 
trouble for President Monroe, the Cabinet, and the Con- 
gress. Spain is enraged. Great Britain growls omi- 

17 a j 



250 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

nously, and at the time when the self-satisfied Jackson 
is being acclaimed in Tennessee, Mr. Monroe is at his 
wits' end to know how to get the Republic out of the 
scrape into which "your General" has brought us. 

Spain is pacified by a prompt surrender of the forts. 
Great Britain has powerful reasons for not going to war, 
and she allows herself to be satisfied with diplomatic 
assurances. But there's to be a big battle over the Semi- 
nole matters in Congress; the C^^inet is to split over it, 
and the feud between Calhoun and Jackson will relate 
back to it; and since that feud changed the political his- 
tory of this country, one may safely say that the ruthless 
and headstrong conduct of Jackson in Florida was the 
source of incalculable woes to his own people. 

Like master, like man. General Jackson's example 
of indiscriminate slaughter found its imitators. In 
Southern Georgia there was an occurrence which even 
now fills one with horror and indignation. 

The operations of Mcintosh and Jackson naturally 
caused a great commotion among the Indians in the 
lower part of the State. Governor Rabun wrote to Gen- 
eral Jackson about this, and requested him to detail a 
portion of his superabundant force to protect the fron- 
tier from incursions. To this appeal, Jackson gave no 
heed. Governor Rabun felt that the inhabitants of South 
Georgia should not be left to the depredations of hostile 
savages, and he, therefore, ordered Captain Obed 
Wright, with a sufficient force of mounted men, to attack 
the towns of the celebrated old Chief Hopaunee. It is 
claimed that Hopaunee and his braves were on the war- 
path. When Captain Wright and his two hundred and 
seventy men neared the Hopaunee towns, they were told 
the old chief had removed and was then living at the 
village of Cheha. 

Now the Indians of this town were not only not hos- 
tile, but nearly every able-bodied man of the place had 
joined Jackson's army, after having furnished him with 
all the corn they could spare. They had even taken into 
their care and keeping some sick soldiers of Jackson's 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 251 

command. At the time (April 23, 1818,) that Captain 
Wright was advancing upon Cheha, not a dozen warriors 
were there. Some old men, some herders, a small guard, 
and the women and children were the sole occupants of 
the place. Hopaunee was not in the village, and it does 
not appear that he had ever been there. But just as wild 
rumors were sufficient evidence for Jackson in Florida, 
so a rumor was enough for Wright in Georgia. 

An Indian who was herding some cattle first noticed 
the approach of the white soldiers. Alarmed and amazed, 
he earnestly begged Captain Wright to let him and the 
interpreter enter Cheha and bring before the white 
soldiers any of the head men that could be found. His 
prayer was denied. The attack was ordered, the cavalry 
galloped forward, and the massacre began. The ven- 
erable chief, known as Major Howard, and known as a 
friend to the whites, came out of his house, bearing a 
white flag, and this the old man waved in front of the 
charging line. He was fired upon, shot down and bay- 
oneted. His son, also, was killed. Besides these, three 
other men who had been left to guard the town, and one 
woman were slain. Every house in the town was burned. 

Perhaps there is no episode of our treatment of the 
Indians that is more disgraceful than this. It has a par- 
allel, we grieve to say, in the action of Lieutenant Kings- 
bury, whd, on the Mississippi Eiver, fired a six-pounder 
upon Black Hawk's flag of truce, murdering some starv- 
ing women and children. 

When General Jackson heard of what had been done 
at Cheha, he was in a towering passion. Not only was 
he indignant at the outrage committed upon his allies, 
but he was indignant that Governor Rabun should dare 
to put troops in motion, in Jackson's military division, 
when Jackson himself was in the field. Said Jackson to 
the Governor, ''You, sir, as Governor of a State within 
my military division have no right to give a military 
order while I am in the field." 

This monstrous proposition was treated by Governor 
Rabun with the scorn it deserved. Said the Governor to 



252 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the General, in substance, '^I told you of the condition 
of our bleeding frontier on the 21st of March, and 
requested that you detach a portion of your overwhelm- 
ing force for our protection. You did not even deign to 
reply. You marched off with five thousand men to attack 
scattered bands of two hundred and three hundred 
Indians, leaving our frontier totally undefended. Since 
you would not protect the frontier, I did. If necessary, 
will do it again. As to' the powers you arrogate to 
yourself, they are preposterous. As to Captain Wright, 
you have nothing to do with him. He is a State officer, 
and the State authorities will deal with him. In conclu- 
sion, — ^you attend to your own business and I will attend 
to mine." 

In this correspondence, Kabun not only defies Jack- 
son, but goes at him hammer and tongs. After the 
spunky Governor's second letter, the irate General 
thought best to ''drop it." 

As to the "inhuman monster" Wright, he was prob- 
ably no worse than thousands of other white men who 
thought that there was no great harm in killing Indians. 
He was put through the form of a trial, and was allowed 
to make his escape. No white man was ever put to 
death, or severely punished, for crimes against the red 
men. East, North, South, West, the record is the same. 

Note: Henry A. Wise, in "Seven Decades of the 
Union," gives a curious account of the action of Con- 
gress in voting for war: — 

"Party spirit ran rankling to the most violent extremes. Not 
only was personal courtesy forgotten in partisan rudeness, but 
measures were carried or defeated by means 'fas aut nefas.' On 
the question of 'war or no war,' the House of Representatives was 
kept in session several weeks, day and night, without recess or 
respite. 

"So determined was the Opposition that the Federal leaders, 
with an organized phalanx of debaters, got the floor, and held it by 
preconcerted signals, until the patience of their opponents was 
exhausted. The physical endurance of the Speaker was overcome; 
his sleep was not that of 'tired Nature's sweet restorer,' — it was 
not 'balmy.' An elderly gentleman from New England, with rather 
goggle-eyes, took the text of peace, and spun it out exceeding fine 
ana broadly disquisitive, from point to point, each of infinite detail, 
like Captain Dalgetty's pious tormentor, far beyond 'eighteenthly' 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 253 

and never towards 'lastly,' until Bellona, or some one else, resorted 
to most startling means of storming the tenure of the floor to get 
at the 'previous question.' The Speaker of the House and most of 
the members, making a bare quorum, were asleep, and there was 
nothing to disturb the solemn silence but the Dominie-like drawling 
of the member on the floor, — didactic, monotonous and slow; the 
clerk's head bent low down upon the journal; when lo! sudden 
noises, rattling, dashing, bounding down the aisles, awoke and 
astonished Speaker's chair and clerk's desk; spittoons were bound- 
ing and leaping in the air, and, falling, reverberating their sounds 
like thunders among the crags of the Alps. 'Order! order! order!' 
was the vociferated cry; but, in the midst of the slap-bang con- 
fusion of the no longer drowsy night, the humdrum debater who 
had the floor took his seat from fright, and a belligerent Democrat 
snatched the pause to move the 'previous question,' which was sec- 
onded, and the declaration of war against Great Britain was thus 
got at, and carried in the House of Representatives of the Congress 
of the United States in June, 1812." 



254 LIFE AND TIMES OP JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

In one of the tart letters of Governor 'Rabun he twits 
General Jackson about two things which are significant, 
— the overwhelming number of his troops and his dis- 
obedience of the orders of his Government. And, 
strangely enough, Jackson made no reply. 

Here, then, is a circumstance to arrest attention and 
cause one to reflect. Why did General Jackson march 
against a handful of Seminoles with an army nearly 
twice as large as that which he had led against the great 
Creek Nation"? And did he disobey orders when he 
seized St. Marks and Pensacola? 

We think that there can be no doubt that when Old 
Hickory set out from Nashville, his settled purpose was 
to bring on a war with Spain, and wrest Florida from 
her failing grip. The letter to Monroe proves it ; the size 
of his army proves it : the heavy investments in Florida 
land, made by his family connections and close friends 
prove it. 

The Monroe letter will be discussed presently; the 
size of the army speaks for itself; and the purchase of 
the Florida lands was made by James Jackson, John 
Jackson, J. Donelson, J. H. Eaton, J. McCrea, J. C. 
McDowell and T. Childress. 

In 1818, there was peace between the United States 
and Spain. President Monroe was negotiating for the 
purchase of Florida, and, therefore, he had powerful 
reasons for wishing to maintain friendly relations with 
the Dons. Knowing this. General Jackson must have 
realized how gravely he would compromise his Govern- 
ment if he went beyond his orders. Eager to' seize the 
coveted territory, yet conscious that Monroe could not 
sanction an attack upon Spain, how did the General set 
about getting his own way? 

Students who are willing to throw prejudice aside 
and learn the true character of public men and events 
will find much to interest them in this episode of Jack- 
son's career. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 255 

On the 6th of January, 1818, the General wrote to 
President Monroe a letter to which an ingenious rea- 
soner might plausibly trace the source of the Civil War, 
— which changed our Democratic Republic into the cen- 
tralized plutocracy of the present era. Jackson begins 
by stating to the President that he is aware of the orders 
which had been given to General Gaines. These orders 
authorized the pursuit of Indians into Spanish territory, 
but expressly forbade the seizure of any Spanish fortress. 

Now, Jackson wanted a freer hand than this, and he 
argued that if the savages took refuge in Pensacola and 
St. Augustine, it would be necessary to seize those 
places. He believed that he should be allowed to take 
possession of the whole of East Florida which should be 
held as an indemnity for the "outrages of Spain upon 
the property of our citizens." 

The General very well knew that President Monroe 
could not openly sanction such a course. To authorize 
the violent spoliation of a friendly power, with whom we 
were even then conducting amicable negotiations, would 
have been dishonorable and perfidious. Jackson himself 
realized this. What, then, was his proposition to 
Monroe ? 

"Let it be signified to me through any channel (say 
Mr. J. Rhea) that the possession of the Floridas would 
be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it 
will be accomplished." 

Were not this letter a matter of record which no one 
ever disputed, it would be incredible. The popular con- 
ception of Andrew Jackson is that he was a bluff soldier, 
tough and rough, and utterly incapable of double deal- 
ing. The historical impress which Jam.es Monroe made 
upon his times is that of a perfectly truthful, honest, dis- 
interested, patriotic man. Yet here we find the soldier, 
who was supposed to be free of guile, making a written 
proposition which involves moral turpitude of the 
blackest kind, and making it to a man of the nicest sense 
of honor. 

In effect, the Jackson suggestion is this: 



256 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

"You, Mr. President, must continue to show a 
friendly face to Spain ; you must smile and negotiate ; I 
understand that you can not afford to do anything else; 
but, still, I believe that East Florida should be seized and 
I am not quite willing to seize it in violation of my orders. 
Therefore, do you tip me the wink to go ahead. There's 
Johnny Rhea, a devoted friend of mine; do you say on 
the sly to Johnny Rhea that you would like for me to 
pounce upon Spain's unprotected territory, while you 
are lulling her into deceptive security by pretending 
friendship and by keeping up negotiations for the pur- 
chase of Florida. Do this, and in sixty days I will rob 
Spain of that which you are pretending that you wish 
to buy." 

Can there be any question of the morals of a propo- 
sition like that? We shall see this trait of Jackson's 
character reveal itself again in the matter of the Texan 
revolt against Mexico, as well as in his dealings with 
John Quincy Adams and William H. Crawford. 

What reply did President Monroe make to the letter? 

Jackson and his partisans claimed that the President 
spoke to Rhea and that Rhea wrote to the General, but 
no one has ever pretended to state the contents of this 
alleged letter. 

As a matter of fact, Monroe did not read the Jackson 
letter of January 6th, until after the Seminole War was 
ended. He was sick at the time the communication 
reached Washington, and he handed it to Calhoun, who 
laid it away. Jackson had already been given his orders, 
and the President could not possibly suspect that the 
General was making the disgraceful proposition con- 
tained in the unread letter. 

On December 21st, 1818, Monroe himself wrote to 
Jackson explaining fully how it came about that the 
Jackson letter of January 6th, 1818, had not been read 
by him until after he had received the dispatches brought 
by Hambly announcing Jackson's seizure of the Spanish 
forts. Hambly did not reach Washington until July, 
1818. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 257 

General Jackson did not at that time dispute this 
statement, did not remind the President of the alleged 
letter of Johnny Rhea, and continued on the most cordial 
terms with Monroe. 

In the Diary of John Quincy Adams, date December 
17th, 1818, occurs the entry: "At the President's met 
Secretary Crawford who was reading to him (Monroe) 
a violent attack upon himself in a letter from Nashville, 
published in the 'Aurora' of day before yesterday." 

In this Nashville letter the Monroe administration is 
charged with having had knowledge, beforehand, that 
Jackson meant to invade Florida. As this part of the 
attack on Monroe evidently refers to Jackson's letter of 
January 6th, 1818, the person who wrote it must have 
been in the General's confidence. The publication which 
Crawford read to Monroe on December 17th, 1818, would 
seem to explain why Monroe went out of his way, in the 
letter of December 21st, 1818, to assure Jackson that it 
was not until after the fall of Pensacola that he was 
aware of his suggested seizure of East Florida. Here 
the matter rested for many years. We shall see how it 
was revived some years later. 

All the world admires a man of dash and force and 
bravery, and the people of America were now wrought 
up to such enthusiasm over Andrew Jackson that he was 
rapidly becoming a national hero. It was Jackson who 
always did the thing which he set out to do. He had 
made up his mind that the power of the Creeks must be 
broken, and in spite of every difficulty he had annihilated 
them. He had resolutely said that he would ' ' smash 
h— 11 out of the British," and he had done it. He Iiaa 
declared that he could trample upon Spanish rights in 
Florida, and he had done that, too. Of such a strong, 
triumphant man, his countrymen were proud. Small 
errors and misdeeds were condoned or forgotten, or 
denied, or justified. If he had gambled, he was a gentle- 
man gambler, not a blackleg. If he had killed a man in a 
duel, that was a trifle ; murder by the duello was gentle- 



258 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

manly homicide. If he had courted another man's wife, 
won her heart, and scared her husband off the range, that 
was a personal and private affair, and there was much to 
be said in extenuation. It was the strong man's master- 
ful way of getting the woman he wanted. 

As to hanging those two English subjects, Ambrister 
and Arbuthnot, it was perhaps a somewhat hasty pro- 
ceeding, — but how many flagrant outrages had Great 
Britain inflicted upon American sailors? Besides, it 
would teach her to quit sending English officers to 
incite red men to war. As to the Indian chiefs who had 
been hanged without any sort of trial, — that was nothing. 
They were just savages, who deserved killing on general 
principles. So reasoned the populace; and the close of 
the Florida skirmishes, house-burnings, cattle-liftings 
and fort seizures found General Jackson the most popu- 
lar man in America. In such a grandiloquent style had 
Old Hickory written and spoken of his performances in 
the land of flowers, the people of the East and North 
honestly believed that heroic things had been accom- 
plished. They could not know that General Mcintosh 
had done very nearly all of the fighting, and that the 
fortresses taken by Jackson were not in condition to 
make any resistance. 

But while the multitude acclaimed Andrew Jackson, 
there were many intelligent, observant men throughout 
the Union who severely censured his high-handed doings 
in Florida. This dissatisfaction, however, took no 
definite shape, save in Congress. There, the politicians 
threshed it out in a debate which ran along for several 
weeks. In the lower house, Mr. Clay led the attack on 
Jackson, doing it with his usual eloquence. But he had 
not taken the trouble to' study the facts carefully and 
therefore' his speeches lacked the convincing strength 
which he might have given them. George Poindexter, of 
Mississippi, defended the General, and, being coached by 
the General himself, he was able to make a strong case. 
Where he omitted a detail. Clay was unable to supply it; 
and when he misstated incidents, there was no one to 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 259 

correct him. Besides, President Monroe, while disavow- 
ing the seizure of the Spanish posts, lent the whole 
weight of his administration to Jackson. 

Meanwhile, a very curious situation had developed in 
the Cabinet. Calhoun was of the opinion that Jackson 
had gone much too far in Florida, and appears to have 
taken the position in the Cabinet counsels that he should 
be censured. Crawford was of the same opinion. The 
Secretary of State, the able and learned John Quincy 
Adams, had a fine capacity for hatred, and two of the 
men whom he ardently loved to dislike were Calhoun and 
Crawford. Whether this personal feeling had anything 
to do with deciding him to antagonize the views of these 
two colleagues, no one can say with certainty. Very 
probably, it gave Mr. Adams a keen pleasure to espouse 
the cause of General Jackson and to foil not only Cal- 
houn and Crawford, but Henry Clay, also. At any rate, 
Mr. Adams did take up the cudgels for the grim warrior 
who was under civilian fire. By the time the astute 
Adams had suppressed and distorted the facts of the 
case to suit his conception of the law of nations, he was 
able to build upon this fabricated foundation an exposi- 
tion of the law which no one could overturn. It check- 
mated Spain, puzzled Great Britain, satisfied America 
and scored a glorious victory all around. 

The three towers of strength to Jackson in this crisis 
were Monroe, Adams and Poindexter. We shall here- 
after see how bitterly he turns against all three. 

While the fight was raging against him in Congress, 
the General himself was on the ground, in personal com- 
mand of his partisans, directing every movement of the 
defense. He was boiling with wrath against Clay, and 
against Crawford ; and is said to have been violent in his 
threats. Lacock, who made the report against Jackson 
in the Senate, was told that the furious warrior had 
sworn to cut the honorable Senator's ears off, — where- 
upon Lacock began to carry on his endangered person 
weapons of deadly character. 

There appears to be no doubt that the enraged Gen- 



260 LIFE AND TIMES OE JA( K80X. 

eral was turned back by bis frieud. Commodore Deeatiir, 
wbeu iu tbe act of entering tbe Senate obamber for tbe 
purpose of assaulting Jobn W. Eppes, son-in-law of 
Thomas Jetferson. 

After the prolonged debate, the House of Kepresen- 
tatives voted down the proposition to censure Jackson, 
and his victory over the politicians endeared him all the 
more to the people. AVherever he appeared in public, 
whether iu Baltimore, Fhiladelphia or New York, he was 
lionized. Banquets, balls, receptions, etc., were given in 
his honor; and his manners were such a natural blending 
of dignity and grace that he came forth from every scene 
of entertainment with his popularity .broadened. 

In October. 1S20. the Spanish government ratitied the 
treaty under which Florida was ceded to the United 
States for live million dollars; in the following Feb- 
ruary. Congress also ratitied it, but not without a vigor- 
ous protest by a minority led by Clay. Our title to Texas 
was as good as the title by which we held New Orleans, 
and Mr. Clay insisted that we should not relinquish our 
claim to it, as the treaty bound us to do. 

The New England States, however, had shown such 
extreme opposition to the Louisiana Purchase, and were 
so sensitive on the subject of the growth of the West and 
South that President Monroe was of the opinion "we 
ought to be content with Florida for the present." On 
June 20th, 1S20, General Jackson, in response to a letter 
from the President, explaining the reasons for the relin- 
quishment of Florida, wrote Monroe that he fully agreed 
with him. 

Many years later when the Texas question was red- 
hot, the old General denied — bitterly, vehemently, and 
with much profanity denied — that he had ever sanc- 
tioned the gi^ing up of our claim on Texas, or that he 
had ever been consulted about it. So tickle is memorv! 



On May 31, 1821, General Jackson resigned his com- 
mission iu the army, and was appointed by President 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 261 

Monroe to the Governorship of Florida. This office 
brought nothing to our hero but vexation of spirit, for 
himself and others. In the shortest possible time, he 
managed to get up a row with the Spanish officials who 
were going out as he was coming in. Upon the complaint 
of a mulatto woman, that the retiring Spaniards were 
about to carry off valuable papers belonging to an estate 
in which she was interested, Governor Andrew Jackson — 
without waiting to hear the other side or to make any 
investigation into the merits of the woman's claim — 
ordered the papers surrendered. But the order was 
directed to a gallant subordinate who had no authority 
to give up the papers. The official who did have the 
authority was most willing to exercise it, but got no 
chance. Jackson proceeded so rapidly that everything 
fell into a brain-racking tangle, and the upshot of the 
business was that the furious American Governor flung 
the Spanish ex-Governor into the calaboose! 

No wonder John Quincy Adams declared that Mon- 
roe's cabinet dreaded to see the Florida mail arrive: 
they never could tell what Jackson might do next. 

In this particular instance, Andrew Jackson got the 
situation in Florida so ''balled up" that he himself was 
at a loss to know what to do with it. Particularly, as a 
writ of habeas corpus was issued by a Federal judge, 
requiring the production of the body of the Spanish 
ex-Governor. 

Jackson stormed, frothed at the mouth, banged the 
table with his fist, and made use of frightful language. 
But he was completely stalled. The officer who had no 
right to surrender the papers had been clapped in jail; 
and the officer who did have the authority, but who did 
not know which papers were wanted, was likewise in the 
calaboose, — where the ridiculousness of the thing had 
caused the prisoners to pass a night in laughing at 
Jackson and themselves, rehearsing the turbulent scenes 
through which they had passed, and drinking much 
champagne. 

Jackson had the filthy little calaboose full of merry 
Spaniards, but he had not been able to get those valuable 



262 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

papers. In this dilemma, the Alcalde Breckenridge came 
to his relief. * ' Send Commissioners to the Spanish Gov- 
ernor 's house, and get the papers." This was done. 
Then the calaboose was emptied, the Federal Judge given 
a terrible cussing-out, and the valuable papers examined. 
They were found to be of no value whatever. 

Of course. Governor Jackson made a formidable 
report to his Government, demonstrating with fierce sin- 
cerity that he had been in the right all the way through. 

To John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, fell the 
task of explaining things to the Spanish minister, and of 
keeping the peace with harassed Spain. 

It is well known that President Monroe had thought 
of appointing General Jackson Minister to Russia. 
When this was mentioned to Mr. Jefferson he was hor- 
rified. Strenuously objecting to a step so rash, he 
exclaimed: "My God! He would breed you a quarrel 
with Russia in less than a month." 

Possibly a great European complication and world- 
war was averted by the sending of Jackson to Pensacola, 
rather than to St. Petersburg. The wrongfulness of 
Jackson's course is shown by his unconditional release 
of his prisoners. If they had done anything punishable, 
they should have been punished; if they had committed 
no offense, they should not have been imprisoned. The 
mere seizure of the papers by Jackson did not alter the 
status of facts, so far as the conduct of the prisoners was 
concerned. The papers could have been seized at first, or 
at any stage of the game. The Spaniards made no 
attempt to hide the documents, and had no idea of resist- 
ance to an attempt to take them. The Spanish Governor 
contended all along that he was perfectly willing to sur- 
render the papers if Jackson would specify the papers 
desired, and would make the demand of him in his 
capacity of Spanish official. In other words, the retir- 
ing governor merely asked to be treated with common 
civility, and to be given, in writing, a paper which would 
serve to explain to his superiors why he had surrendered 
a portion of the documents left in his official custody. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 263 

Nothing could have been more reasonable. The Span- 
ish Governor, whose name was Callava, was a gentle- 
man, but the treatment accorded him was brutal in the 
extreme. 

Disappointed because his office gave him no oppor- 
tunity to reward his friends with patronage ; worn down 
by his old enemy, chronic dysentery; and realizing that 
he was adding nothing to his fame or fortune at Pensa- 
cola, General Jackson resigned in November (1821) and 
returned to the Hermitage. 



264 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

We have now reached the end of Andrew Jackson's 
career as a soldier. He goes no more to the wars. A 
short interval of peace and quiet at home, and then he 
becomes a fierce combatant in the arena of National poli- 
tics. Before following him into the memorable struggles, 
which had so powerful an influence upon the destiny of 
our country, let us try to get a view of his home life, and of 
those leading men with whom the old soldier is about to 
be drawn into association or conflict. 

The humble log cabin in which the General and Aunt 
Eachel had so long made their home has been abandoned 
for ihe new mansion. To European visitors, it appeared 
small and mean, but to Jackson's neighbors, it was 
magnificent. 

The Hermitage — as Jackson's home was known — was 
not built upon the best site which the plantation afforded, 
for it was not placed upon the higher groimd. Aunt 
Rachel chose the site, and, although there were those who 
pointed out to Jackson the defect in the location, he 
struck the ground with his cane and swore "by the 
Eternal ' ' that the house should be built right there, — for 
"that is where Rachel wants it!" And there it was 
built, a two-story structure of brick. 

Visitors trooped to the Hermitage from all parts of 
the Union, and foreigners frequently made it a stopping 
place. When Lafayette, (1825) came to visit the country 
for which he had fought when a gallant youth, he did not 
consider his tour complete until he had paid his respects 
to the old soldier of Tennessee, who, in the hearts of his 
countrymen, had won a place second only to that of 
George Washington. 

There being no children to bless the union of Jackson 
and Aunt Rachel, he had adopted one of his wife's 
nephews. Besides this adopted son, Andrew Jackson, 
Jr., there lived with him his wife's nephew, Andrew J. 
Donelson, and also one of her nieces. Included in the 



(. 



I 









-I 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 265 

domestic establishment was Henry Lee, of Virginia, the 
black sheep of one of the noblest families of this or any 
other country. His father was the Revolutionary hero, 
Light Horse Harry Lee, who came as near to being 
familiar with George Washington as it was possible for 
a mere mortal to become. 

The tradition is that it was Light Horse Harry 
who "cut out" the majestic George when he and 
Washington were rival suitors for the hand of the 
lowland beauty to whom young Washington addressed 
his well-meant but clumsy rhymes. It was Light 
Horse Harry, of all men, who would venture to joke 
Washington at his own table about the well-known 
"sharpness" of the father of his country as a horse- 
trader, and do it so deftly that even "Lady" Washing- 
ton would join heartily in the laugh at the expense of her 
august spouse. It does indeed appear to be singular that 
one of the sons of Light Horse Harry should be Robert 
E. Lee, the flower of Anglo-Saxon chivalry, while the 
other (by another wife, however), should have been such 
a reprobate that his own family cast him out; that the 
United States Senate would not hear of him as an 
appointee to office, and that he should have wandered 
from pillar to post, a social and political Pariah, until he 
should lose himself in a foreign land, and virtually write 
his own epitaph in the bitter words that ' ' everything has 
turned to ashes on my lips." Andrew Jackson was one 
of those who for a time, made use of his splendid talents. 
Wonderfully gifted intellectually, Henry Lee wrote some 
of the finest campaign papers on Jackson's behalf that 
ever cut a figure in American politics. His fugitive 
prose-poem, written on the death of the Indian boy whom 
Jackson had taken under his protection after the father 
of the boy had been killed in the battle of Horse Shoe 
Bend, is one of the pearls of American literature. 

General Jackson was an ideal host, — easy, graceful, 
sociable, often playful, but always maintaining a dignity 
which no familiarity invaded. He loved a joke, encour- 
aged gaiety in the social circle, was a good listener as 



266 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

well as a good talker, and left nothing undone that would 
contribute to the comfort, the ease and the enjoyment of 
his guest. 

A most beautiful trait in his character was his devo- 
tion to his wife and his perfect loyalty to her. No matter 
how many beautiful women might crowd around him in 
Nashville or New Orleans, whenever Aunt Rachel 
appeared, his manner seemed to say, "this is her 
Majesty, the Queen." It was a puzzle to many that 
Jackson could have such an eye for a fine figure of a 
woman — such an eye as Washington himself had — and 
be so appreciative and enjoy the company of elegant, 
refined, highly gifted and highly cultured ladies, and yet 
never seem to have the slightest perception of the limita- 
tions of his wife. That she was one of the best and most 
lovable of women, all witnesses agree; nobody could be 
acquainted with her without becoming attached to her 
and feeling for her the profoundest respect; and yet, 
stfinding by the side of her tall, dignified and courtly hus- 
band, she was at the greatest disadvantage. She 
had nevor been accustomed to what is known as good 
society. She was a back-woods girl of good common 
sense, high animal spirits, a good dancer in the rough 
square dances of the back-woods, a wholesome, physi- 
cally attractive girl or young woman when she, a mar- 
ried woman, fell in love with Andrew Jackson, the 
unmarried young lawyer. In 1822, however, she was no 
longer handsome. She was very dark and coarse-look- 
ing. Her figure was full, and she dressed loosely and 
carelessly. Standing up, she had no particular shape, 
and when she sat down she seemed to settle into herself 
in a manner that was not graceful. At all public recep- 
tions where it was her part to appear along with the 
General, the anxiety of Jackson's lady friends was so 
great that they usually formed a cordon around Aunt 
Eachel, to guard her from making any social "break," — 
exerting themselves to the utmost to keep her from say- 
ing or doing anything that would bring discredit upon 
the courtly Jackson. For instance, it was all right for 




President Jackson in civilian's dress 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 267 

her, in the privacy of the Hermitage, to take a few puffs 
at her reed-stem, corn-cob pipe, and then pass it on to 
one of the male guests and say, ''Honey, won't you take 
a smoke?" but, of course, that wouldn't have fitted in 
well at New Orleans, or even in Nashville. When Aunt 
Eachel sat herself down and took her pen in hand to 
write a letter to one of her friends, she was apt to indite 
something like this : 

''The play-actors sent me a letter, requesting my 
countenance to them. No. A ticket to balls and parties. 
No, not one. Two dinings; several times to drink tea. 
Indeed, Mr. Jackson encourages me in my course. He 
recommends it to me to be steadfast. Still, his appetite 
is delicate, and company and business are oppressive, 
but I look unto the Lord, from whence comes all my com- 
forts. I have the precious promise and I know that my 
Eedeemer liveth." 

Daniel Webster made an impression upon his own 
times, that is, perhaps, not justified by the lasting impor- 
tance of anything that he did. It is not at all clear that 
he had any fixed opinions. While a protectionist during 
the greater part of his career, his most powerful speeches 
were made for free trade at a time when there was no 
interested motive to influence his opinion. He is best 
known as an opponent to the theory that the Union of 
the States is a compact between sovereign States, and 
yet he afterwards reached and expressed a contrary con- 
viction. That he was the greatest forensic orator, the 
greatest debater this country has produced, is uniformly 
conceded. No matter who the other man was, if Webster 
was in the wrong, there was a debate ; if Webster was in 
the right, his adversary was crushed. It is doubtful if 
the world ever produced Webster's equal as a logic- 
fencer, a gladiator in the forum and in the Senate. 
Imperial in his mental gifts, Mr. Webster was not great 
as a man. His morals were not pure; he had no high 
standard of honor in money matters ; he allowed himself 
to be subsidized by the rich capitalists of Boston when he 



268 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

was holding public office, — a public servant who should 
have kept himself absolutely free from even the sus- 
picion of being improperly influenced by the receipt of a 
secret income from those who were financially interested 
in his speeches and his votes. Occupying the most exalted 
position as a parliamentary orator, he was not a leader. 
At no period of his long career did he ever have a per- 
sonal following. Totally lacking in the power of organ- 
ization, he never even carried through Congress a 
scheme of legislation. While Clay was a leader, an 
organizer and a constructive statesman, and while Cal- 
houn was conspicuously capable in the same way, Web- 
ster was so utterly lacking in these qualities that Henry 
Clay treated Webster's influence as a negligible quan- 
tity. At some crisis in National politics when Clay and 
others were holding a conference, an inexperienced mem- 
ber (Rufus Choate) kept saying, ''Well, what will Mr. 
Webster think T' until finally Clay turned upon him 
fiercely, scornfully, and silenced him by saying, "Who 
cares a damn what Webster thinks?" 

Nor was Mr. Webster a great statesman. Henry 
Clay was certainly not so learned as Mr. Webster, not in 
the same class as a lawyer or logician, but he was far and 
away a greater statesman. 

Webster's manners when he unbent and tried to be 
agreeable were irresistible. He could fascinate the 
young and the old, the learned and the unlearned; but 
there were times when he aroused enmity by his harsh 
tones and his repellant looks. Congressmen from New 
England were apt to resent his ungracious reception of 
visiting constituents who, being in Washington, felt a 
natural desire to see the god-like Daniel in order that 
they might speak of it when they returned home. Oliver 
Dyer in his book, "Great Senators," says: 

"Webster evidently felt such introductions to be an 
intolerable bore, and seldom took the trouble to conceal 
his annoyance. Usually his manner on such occasions 
was freezingly indifferent. He seemed to be preoccupied 
and unable to bring his mind to the cognition of the rural 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 269 

Jorkins. Sometimes he did not even look at the person 
introduced, but mechanically extended his hand, and per- 
mitted the stranger to shake it, if he had the courage to 
do so. I have seen members of Congress turn crimson, 
with indignation at Webster's ungracious reception of 
their constituents. They felt that his manner was a per- 
sonal insult to them, and their constituents shared their 
opinion and spmpathized with their indignation. Doubt- 
less many enemies were thus made by Webster, whose 
adverse influence was afterwards felt in the Whig 
National Conventions of which he so repeatedly and so 
vainly sought a nomination to the Presidency." 

Henry Clay's manner was altogether different. He 
was always genial, gracious and captivating. He was one 
of those men who adapted himself to his environment. 
At a country dance, he could mix and mingle with the 
young women and the young men as well as make himself 
perfectly at home to the elders. If he wanted to dance a 
particular jig or reel, and the fiddlers did not know the 
tune, the great Harry of the West could unbend, take the 
fiddlers aside, whistle the tune to them until they had 
caught it, then bring them back, have them play it, and 
dance the reel with one of the girls. In the Supreme 
Court room he was as much at ease at he was on the 
hustings, and when Chief Justice Marshall took out his 
snuff box to refresh himself with a pinch of snuff, it was 
Henry Clay who could saunter up to the bench and help 
himself out of the Chief Justice's mug, saying with a 
sang froid which was matchless, ''I perceive that your 
Honor still uses the Scotch." No other member of the 
Bar dreamed of taking such a liberty. 

Never forgetting a face or a name, ready with anec- 
dote and illustration, blessed with a flow of animal 
spirits that hardly ever left him an hour of depression, 
naturally gallant and chivalrous, as fearless a man as 
ever lived, his sensual nature subordinated by his men- 
tality, Henry Clay wielded an influence that survived all 
of his many mistakes and lasted to the last day of 
his life. 



270 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

He was the tallest of ''the great trio," his height 
being six feet, one inch in his stocking feet. Although 
very slender, he was well made, his carriage not only- 
graceful, but commanding. Length was the dominant 
note of his physique — length of limb, length of body, 
length of neck, and length of head from base to crown. 
His hair was rather thin, and sandy in color; his eyes, 
gray, expressive and brilliant ; his mouth, large, the lips 
being thin and straight, the chin strong. 

Miss Martineau, in her "Retrospect of Western 
Travel," paints a pleasant picture of Mr. Clay as he 
appeared in private society: 

"Mr. Clay, sitting upright on the sofa, with his snuff- 
box ever in hand, would discourse for many an hour, in 
his even, soft, deliberate tone, on any one of the great 
subjects of American policy which we might happen to 
start, always amazing us with the moderation of esti- 
mate and speech which so impetuous a nature has been 
able to attain." 

In action, Henry Clay suggested the thoroughbred. 
He tingled with life, and in speaking, everything about 
him contributed to the force, animation and eloquence of 
the speech. Capable of sustained labor, he was quick 
witted, able to rise to any occasion and the spur of the 
moment. It was his nature to attract or to repel. As to 
himself, — as it was with regard to Jackson — there were 
no neutrals. Men could not be indifferent to either of 
those strong characters; they were loved or they were 
hated; they were admired or they were scorned. Like 
Webster, Clay too often indulged in strong drink, but, on 
the whole, his manner of life was simple and economical, 
and his personal honor was conceded by his bitterest 
enemies. 

Not a hard student, Mr. Clay had a mind that was 
naturally receptive and penetrating, and he could make 
more out of what he did know than any man in public 
life. In speaking, he touched almost every key. While 
no match for Calhoun or Webster in reasoning power, he 
could still be logical and very convincing. He was so 
vehement, self-confident and intensely earnest, that the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 271 

very magnetism which he threw into his presentation of 
his case carried a weight of its own. He was more often 
witty and humorous and sarcastic than the other mem- 
bers of the great trio. He left no recorded gems of elo- 
quence that are equal to those of Webster, but there can 
be no doubt that among his contemporaries he was more 
generally popular as an orator. 

All who have written of him go into raptures in 
describing the wonderful sweetness, richness and trum- 
pet-like ring of his voice. Even his lowest notes had a 
carrying power that reached the remotest man in his 
audience; and when he rose to his higher notes, they 
were clarion calls to battle. In the years that are to 
come, we shall hear the dying John Randolph bid hi; 
servants carry his invalid chair into the Senate chamber, 
that he may hear once more "that wonderful voice" of 
Henry Clay. 

While every student of American history has been 
made familiar with Webster and Clay, a vast amount oi' 
misconception yet prevails as to John C. Calhoun. A palj 
of gloom hangs about his name ; it is associated with doc- 
trines which have been put under the ban. His greatest 
work is associated in the minds of his countrymen with 
tragedy and collossal failure. Even the people of the 
South take his portrait as painted by the Northern 
writers who were taught to hate him. We have come to 
regard Mr. Calhoun as an abstraction, an idea, rather 
than a man of flesh and blood. We can not think of him 
as unbending and playing with children, or chatting 
easily with the young, or mixing familiarly in social 
intercourse with ordinary men. We have put him apart 
and aloft as a kind of political Lucifer, the prince of 
fallen angels. Around him we have drawn the drapery 
of dark clouds and disagreeable memories, — put him off 
entirely from human co'm|3anionship and sympathy. 
Yet, of the men that American historians class as "The 
Great Trio," by far the purest, the tenderest and most 
sincerely loving was John C. Calhoun. 

Even with Henry Clay, the smile, after a while, 
became the mere stereotyped smirk of the permanent 



272 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

seeker after the Presidency; too often it meant nothing. 
To Mr. Webster there came not only the occasional fits 
of gloom and despondency and unsociability, but the 
settled exjoression which bespoke a heart that had been 
soured by disappointment, — a manner which toward the 
ordinary man and the ordinary amenities of life seemed 
to say, "I want none of you; leave me to my own soli- 
tude and bitter thoughts." Upon his forehead settled a 
perpetual scowl : into his cavernous, big, black eyes came 
the expression of inexpressible melancholy. 

But to Mr. Calhoun we shall never see come any such 
period of inaccessible gloom. However stern he might 
seem to be in the Senate chamber, where he was strug- 
gling against awful odds, he never lost the exquisite 
polish of manner, the perfect courtesy of the gentleman ; 
and in private life he never seemed to be weary of the 
company of the young, nor lost the inclination and the 
power to make them his friends. 

Springing from the same stock as Andrew Jackson, — 
the Scotch-Irish, — Calhoun was, in his own way, as brave 
a man as Jackson himself. It was not his to quarrel and 
fuss and braw] and shoot and stab. As in the case of Mr. 
Jefferson, there is no record of his having given or taken 
a personal affront. On one notable occasion, Henry Clay, 
in the course of a debate in the Senate, allowed his hot 
temper and his unbridled tongue to carry him too far, 
and he made use of words which a professional duelist 
might have made the provocation for a challenge. Mr. 
Calhoun was no duelist, and he passed the insult by with 
the dignity of a Roman senator ; and the two great South- 
erners went their ways apart for many years, neither 
speaking to the other. But when Mr. Clay made his touch- 
ing farewell address to his colleagues, expressing a manly 
regret for language used in the heat of debate, and ask- 
ing pardon of those whom he might thus have offended, 
Mr. Calhoun proved the metal he was made of by 
promptly rising and going to Clay, with extended hand 
and suffused eyes, "to make it up." 

In person Mr. Calhoun was tall and gaunt, his com- 
plexion dark, his eyes black and luminous; his hair, 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 273 

somewhat like that of Andrew Jackson, was bushy and 
rebellious, standing up from his head and falling upon 
his shoulders like a lion's mane. His voice was only 
second to that of Clay in its sweetness, purity and reson- 
ance. His usual expression in public was one of intense 
earnestness, so much so that most people considered his 
countenance unusually stern and hard. His features 
taken altogether conveyed an idea of rock-like strength. 
Of "the great trio," he was the most subtle reasoner, 
though not so great a debater as Webster, nor so much 
of a constructive statesman as Clay. He was rather lik^ 
Webster in not being a great party leader or organizei 
In his own State, he was supreme, but he did not hav* 
Henry Clay's capacity for moulding his following into h 
great national party and committing it to a great 
national policy. Oliver Dyer, in "Great Senators,'^ 
bears testimony to the effect that Mr. Calhoun was, 

"By all odds the most fascinating man in private 
intercourse that I ever met. His conversational powers 
were marvelous. His voice was clear, sweet and mellow, 
with a musical, metallic ring in it which gave it strength 
without diminishing its sweetness. His pronunciation 
and enunciation were perfect. His manner was simple 
and unpretentious. He talked on the most abstruse sub- 
jects with the guileless simplicity of a prattling child. 
His ideas were so clear and his language so plain that he 
made a path of light through any subject he discussed. 

"Calhoun's kindness of heart was inexhaustible. He 
impressed me as being deeply but unobtrusively relig- 
ious, and was so morally clean and spiritually pure that 
it was a pleasure to have one's soul get close to his soul— 
a feeling that I never had for any other man. He 
seemed to exhale an atmosphere of purity, as fresh and 
sweet and bracing as a breeze from the prairie, the ocean, 
or the mountain— an atmosphere which one could safely 
breathe all in and be better and purer from the inspira- 
tion. He was inexpressibly urbane, refined, gentle, win- 
ning ; and yet he was strong and thoroughly manly, with 
an elegant and engaging invincibleness pervading his 
softness and gentleness. I admired Benton; I admired 



274 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Clay still more; I admired Webster, on the intellectual 
side, most of all; but I loved Calhoun; and as I came to 
know him well, and saw his exquisitely beautiful nature 
mirrowed in his face, his countenance no longer seemed 
Satanic, but angelic, and his benignant greeting in the 
morning was like a benediction that lasted the whole 
day." 

What Dyer says about Calhoun's religious nature, 
reminds the present writer of a story related to him 
many years ago by one who had it from an attendant at 
Calhoun's beside during his last days. Some young 
sprig of a theological student, who, of course, knew 
everything about everything, and had no doubts on any 
subject whatever, — because he was yet fresh from the 
Seminary — took it upon himself to visit Mr. Calhoun and 
to impart to him dogmatically the great truths of 
revealed religion. The dying statesman listened cour- 
teously and patiently until the homily was done and the 
young theologian had departed, and then, with a weary 
sigh, he turned to a friend and said, "That young man 
undertakes to instruct me on matters that have been the 
subject of my deepest, most anxious thoughts during my 
whole life." 

Harriet Martineau in "Western Travel" describes a 
Senatorial scene in which Thomas H. Benton made one 
of his numerous brutal attacks upon Mr. Calhoun. She 
says that the speech would have been insufferable if it 
had not been so absurdly worded as to inspire contempt. 
To make this attack it was necessary for Mr. Benton to 
rudely interupt Mr. Calhoun in the midst of an earnest 
speech; therefore, the assault was all the more inexcus- 
able and exasperating. 

"He was called to order; this was objected to; the 
Senate divided upon the point of order, being dissatisfied 
with the decision of the chair — in short, Mr. Calhoun sat 
for two full hours, hearing his veracity talked about, 
before his speech could proceed. He sat in stern 
patience, scarcely moving a muscle the whole trme; and 
when it was all settled in his favor, merely observed that 
his friends need not fear his being disturbed by an attack 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 275 

of this nature from such a quarter, and resumed his 
speech at the precise point where his argument had been 
broken off. It was great. ' ' 

Far below the great trio, but still a positive factor in 
Jackson's day was Thomas H. Benton, a man of very 
much coarser and tougher fibre than either one of the 
others. Full of pugnacity, full of ponderous conceit, he 
was an indefatigable worker, mentally strong and 
resourceful, thoroughly honest and working always to a 
high ideal of public duty. He was no orator, but a force- 
ful talker, a ready debater, one who prepared himself 
with extraordinary care and who brought to the discus- 
sion of every question a great store of information. In 
public life he was considered domineering, aggressive, 
but devoted to his cause, an honest partisan, generally 
fighting a fair fight, asking no quarter and giving none. 
In private life he was altogether different, and in his 
home circle a model husband and father, — gentle, affec- 
tionate, indulgent and loyal. 

No longer the leader of a party, and no longer exert- 
ing any considerable influence by his speeches or vote, 
John Randolph, of Roanoke, must still be mentioned as 
one of the conspicuous men figuring in Congressional 
life. Taking our view, as usual, from New England, we 
have come to regard this erratic Virginian as little more 
than a freak and a common scold. We are given to see 
all of the contortions of the Sibyl and none of the inspi- 
ration: we are allowed to hear all of the shrieks, and 
none of the splendid eloquence with which this rare 
genius was so richly endowed. Yet, it is a fact that John 
Randolph was the most consistent statesman of his time. 
He and he alone remained steadfast to' his original, 
States-rights creed. From the time when he sprang into 
fame by his debate with Patrick Henry, until he accepted 
from Andrew Jackson the mission to Russia, Randolph's 
career is "as straight as a string." He had the vision 
of a prophet, but unfortunately the curse of Cassandra 
was on him, and though he spoke the truth his own 
people would not believe. 



276 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Besides the great men of the political world noticed 
in the preceding chapter, there were John Quincy Adams, 
James Monroe, William H. Crawford, John Forsyth, 
William B. Giles, William Pinkney, James Buchanan, 
Sergeant S. Prentiss, Sam Houston, Felix Grundy, John 
McPherson Berrien, Edward Livingston, Martin Van 
Buren and many others less prominent. As our story 
proceeds we will try to make each of the positive per- 
sonal factors of the period well known to our readers. 
The narrative will soon cary us into those vital and 
burning issues out of which sprang sectional strife and 
civil war, — therefore it may be well to take a look 
backward. 

Many of the pregnant facts of our early history have 
been purposely omitted from the books: the origins of 
things have been misrepresented: the very compromises 
and principles upon which our complex Government was 
built have been so wilfully suppressed and blotted from 
the record that the generation now crowding toward the 
open fields of busy life know little of the real truth of 
the political strategy which transformed a league of sov- 
ereign States into a consolidated Republic. 

Perhaps our readers will appreciate a simple review 
of the record. 

On May 10, 1775, the thirteen North American colo- 
nies, acting through their delegates in a Convention 
which sat in Philadelphia, agreed upon the first Union 
of all the colonies. There had been previous confedera- 
tions of some of the colonies, mainly for the purpose of 
making war upon the Indians, but there had never been 
a union which embraced them all. The revolt against 
King George was a common cause, and even the most 
confident rebel realized the necessity of gathering up the 
thirteen sticks into one bundle, as the only hope of pre- 
venting England from breaking each separate stick. 

"Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union" 
were consequently adopted, and a Union formed which 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 277 

lasted a little more than three years. The following 
extracts will show the nature and purpose of the 
league : — 

^'Article 1. The name of this Confederacy shall be 
the United Colonies of North America. (On July 2, 
1776, the word ' colonies ' was changed to ' states ' by Act 
of Congress, upon which day was assumed the title, 
'United States of America.' On the 4th of the same 
month was issued the formal Declaration of Independ- 
ence. It was under the operation of this Government 
that George Washington was appointed Commander-in- 
Chief of the Army of the Confederation.) 

''Article 2. The United Colonies hereby severally 
enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, 
binding on themselves and their posterity, for their com- 
mon defence against their enemies, for the securities of 
their liberties and properties, and their mutual and gen- 
eral welfare. 

"Article 3. Each colony shall enjoy and 'retain as 
much as it may think fit of its own present laws, customs, 
rights, privileges, and peculiar jurisdiction within its 
own limits. ' ' ' 

On July 27, 1778, Congress abolished the first Union 
and adopted a second, under the same words, "Articles 
of Confederation and Perpetual Union." The following 
extracts are worth reproduction : — 

"Article 1. The style of this Confederacy shall be 
'The United States of America.' 

"Article 2. Each State retains its sovereignty, free- 
dom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, 
and right which is not by their confederation expressly 
delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. 

"Article 3. The said States hereby severally enter 
into a firm league of friendship with each other for their 
common defense, the security of their liberties, and their 
mutual and general welfare. 

"Article 13. * * * The articles of this Confederation 
shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the 



278 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Union shall be perpetual: nor shall any alteration be 
made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to 
in a Congress of the United States, and afterwards con- 
firmed by the Legislature of every State." 

On December 17, 1787, the third Government of the 
United States was formed. One after another, nine of 
the States seceded from the "perpetual Union," and set 
up a new one. The politicians who favored a strong 
nationality, instead of a loose league of independent 
States, adroitly manipulated a movement for a commer- 
cial convention until they had got the States committed 
to a constitutional convention. The declared object of 
this body was the amendment of the "Articles of Confed- 
eration and Perpetual Union." The people had no sus- 
picion of what was on foot. The strategy of the nation- 
alist wire-pullers was so infernally clever, that the 
States-rights men were completely hoodwinked. The 
Convention which had been instructed to prepare amend- 
ments to the "Articles of Confederation," giving to the 
"Perpetual Union" those powers which the nationalists 
claimed that it lacked, deliberated and worked behind 
closed doors. Not only were their proceedings not pub- 
lished, but each delegate was solemnly bound to silence. 
Not until the Madison Papers were given to the world in 
1842 did the people know the inside history of the famous 
Convention of 1787. 

Remember this : Perpetual Union the first, was broken 
up by general consent of all the parties thereto, but Per- 
petual Union the second was dissolved by the action of 
ten of the States which sent delegates to the Constitu- 
tional Convention and the further action of the nine 
States which seceded from Perpetual Union number two, 
and formed Union number three. At the time the Gov- 
ernment under which we now live was organized and 
went to work, with George Washmgton as President, the 
other three States were still members of Perpetual Union, 
the second. New York soon followed the nine seceding 
States, and North Carolina came along not much later; 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 279 

but Rhode Island remained outside the new Union until 
a bill was passed by the United States Senate and sent to 
the House ''to prevent bringing goods, wares and mer- 
chandise from the State of Rhode Island into the United 
States, and to authorize a demand of money from the said 
State," etc., etc. 

This was in May, 1790, three years after the present 
Government had been organized. When "right little, 
tight little Rhody" saw that Uncle Sam was about to put 
up a tariff fence between herself and the twelve erring 
sisters whom she had suffered to depart in peace, she 
came across, got on the sunny side of the inclosure, and 
began to wax marvelously fat on those tariff taxes which 
the obliging and generous foreigner is said to pay. 

Why mention details like these? Because current 
histories omit them, and because it is impossible to com- 
prehend the States-rights school of politics unless you 
are made to know the facts just as they were. 

You are taught to believe that the New England con- 
spirators did a wicked thing when they intrigued with the 
British for a separate peace during the War of 1812, and 
convened the Hartford Convention, threatened secession, 
and frightened poor little pedagogic James Madison into 
a state of blue funk. But before you make up your mind 
as to the enormity of New England's offense, you must 
remember that there was universal acceptance, then, of 
the principle that "all government rests on the consent 
of the governed." To accede to a new league, meant 
secession from its predecessor; and the right of a State 
to do that, was not questioned by a people who had so 
recently witnessed the dissolution of one "Perpetual 
Union ' ' and the formation of another. 

It is true that the conduct of New England in holding 
secession meetings, threatening disunion, furnishing the 
enemy with supplies, and maintaining confidential rela- 
tions with him smelled pungently of treason to Old Glory 
and Uncle Sam ; but still one must strive to bear in mind 
that the War of 1812 seriously affected the Puritan 
pocketbook, and that the relations between the Puritan 



280 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

conscience and wallet have invariably been twin-like in 
tenderness and strength. 

We will soon come to the great battle over the doc- 
trine of Nullification, and we will be unable to understand 
the position of such statesmen as John C. Calhoun, unless 
we spend some time in acquainting ourselvse with condi- 
tions which preceded the Constitution of 1787, and with 
the opinions current among ''the Fathers" themselves 
as to the character of the new Government which they 
had made. 

Is it worth nothing to us as historical students to 
know what such a nationalist as James Madison thought 
of the inherent, sovereign right of a State to negative an 
Act of Congress? In the Alien and Sedition laws, passed 
during the administration of the elder Adams, our fore- 
fathers saw an infringement of the reserved rights of the 
citizen. The Federal Government asserted its authority 
in a way which overlapped the sovereign powers of the 
State. The laws in question would have enabled the 
United States to banish political offenders and to muzzle 
the opposition press. Both Jefferson and Madison were 
intensely alive to the importance of resisting this begin- 
ning of federal encroachment, and they smote the Adams 
administration with the celebrated state-papers known 
as the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions. The gist of 
the doctrine set forth is, that a State may ignore and 
refuse to obey an Act of Congress which is unsupported 
by constitutional authority, and that each State may 
judge for itself whether any given law is violative of her 
reserved rights. 

While this doctrine met with condemnation in New 
England States, at that time, if must have been approved 
by the balance of the Union, for Adams was heavily 
beaten at the next election. Neither Jefferson nor Madi- 
son ever receded from the stand taken in the famous 
Eesolutions, and both served two terms as President. 

In that day, nobody contended that the Supreme 
Court of the United States was the final arbiter in dis- 
putes of this kind. To give to the judiciary the last and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 281 

controlling word as to the binding power of laws, and to 
make the Federal Judges the supreme legislators,— even 
the nationalists who framed the new Constitution had no 
idea of confusing the legislative and the judicial func- 
tions in a manner so anomalous and unprecedented. 
When it was definitely proposed in the Convention of 
1787 to give the Supreme Court of the United States 
jurisdiction over the Acts of Congress, the proposition 
was overwhelmingly voted down — not once, but several 
times ! 

It need not surprise us, then, to find Mr. Madison, 
''the father of the Constitution," writing into a State- 
paper the doctrine of Nullification. In his breast were 
locked the secrets of the great Convention: he was in 
honor bound not to divulge them : he could not tell John 
Adams and the world generally that the Supreme Court 
was without jurisdiction over the Alien and Sedition laws 
and that, therefore, each State must protect itself from 
Federal invasion of its reserved rights. 

Equally significant is the attitude of Edmund Ran- 
dolph, another influential nationalist, upon whom fell the 
brunt of the battle when Patrick Henry was making his 
great fight in the Virginia Convention against the new 
Constitution,-^and prophesying like one inspired how it 
would draw all power to the Central Government, and 
afflict the States and the people with the abuses which 
have since oppressed them. Mr, Randolph was second to 
none but Madison in the making of the Constitution of 
1787, and never once did he say that the Federal Judi- 
ciary could set aside unconstitutional legislation. His 
contention was that the States, acting through their 
legislatures, would nullify such Acts of Congress, and 
thus bring them to nought. 

Another thing is indispensable to the American 
student who would understand the history of his country, 
and who would intelligently follow the movements of men 
and parties during the political career of Andrew Jack- 
son : he must learn that the antagonism between the two 
sections, the North and the South, did not grow out of 

19 a j 



282 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Nullification, nor out of slavery, nor out of secession : he 
must learn that it grew out of the nature of things, the 
difference of race and creed, the rivalry of opposing 
interests, the clash of irreconcilable plans. 

It is the fashion to make a kind of Mount Sinai out of 
Plymouth Rock, and to represent the Pilgrim Fathers as 
new and improved editions of Moses, Solon, Socrates and 
Numa. We are told that these Puritans were cruelly per- 
secuted in England and that, on account of this harsh 
treatment, they came to America in order that they 
might enjoy in peace the blessed privilege of worshipping 
God according to the dictates of their own conscience. 
This story is beautiful and heroic, but not true. It is 
somewhat late to deny what has been so' universally pub- 
lished and believed, and I have no sanguine expectations 
of changing anybody's opinion on the subject; but, just as 
a relief to my own mind, I must enter a protest against 
that New England idyl. 

As a matter of fact, the Puritans were not happy in 
England. Their manners and their religion were so 
much of a caricature upon the established Christian faith, 
and their disposition to' push their own beliefs upon 
others was so persistent and irritating that they nat- 
urally provoked retaliation. Something in their nar- 
row, bigoted, dismal creed made them hate sunlight, 
laughter, merry music and cheerful games. They prob- 
ably had the most loving ways to cause people to hate 
them that ever were seen on this troubled globe. They 
not only did not have any fun themselves, but they didn 't 
want anyone else to have any. All kinds- of innocent 
pastimes, dear to the people and bound up with thou- 
sands of recollections of Old Times, were sourly con- 
demned by the pharisaical Puritan, who appeared to 
believe that God had specially commissioned him to blot 
joy out of the world. 

Garbed in absurd clothing, affecting a sanctimonious 
gait, speaking through his nose, walling his eyes heaven- 
ward at the smallest provocation, talking self-righteous 
jargon new to the ears of mankind, this Puritan made 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 283 

relentless war upon harmless amusements, all but pro- 
scribed the fine arts, forbade the use of the organ, put 
the ban on such books as the Fairy Queen ; and made it 
a sin to drink a friend's health, to hang garlands on a 
May-pole, to play chess, to starch a ruff, and to touch 
the virginals— the primitive piano. So far did these 
fanatics eventually go in their theocratic legislation that 
they made it a crime for a mother to kiss her own babe 
on the Sabbath day! (See Appendix.) 

That a sect like this should persecute and be perse- 
cuted, was inevitable in England, where the Cavalier- 
spirit was dominant and where some millions of sane 
people hated monastic gloom, nasal preachments, kill-joy 
countenances, lank-haired bigotry and censorious inter- 
meddling with everybody's business. 

Consequently, our Pilgrim Fathers shook English 
dirt and dust off their godly pedestals, and betook 
themselves to Holland. The Dutch gave them hospitable 
welcome, in their own phlegmatic way, and then left 
them alone. For ten years the Pilgrims had nobody 
whom they could torment, or provoke into persecu- 
tion. This was unbearable. It was absolutely need- 
ful to the bodily and spiritual comfort of the typical 
Puritan that he should torment or be tormented. One or 
the other he must have, or be wretched. Now, in Hol- 
land he could not keep in practice. The Dutch were not 
a persecuting folk, and the Puritans were not strong 
enough to do the things to' the Dutch that they would 
have dearly loved to do. For ten years, the Pilgrims 
languished in this negative, inoffensive state, and then 
they could bear it no longer. They resolved to resume 
their travels. They gave two reasons for leaving the 
Dutch. One was that they spoke a different language, 
and the other was that they had been unable to bring the 
Dutch to a proper observance of the Lord's day, or to 
reform ''any other thing amiss among them." 

In other words, they could not endure life among a 
people whose habits differed from theirs and whom they 
could not persuade to change, and whom they were too 
weak to' coerce ! 



284 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

So, our Pilgrim Fathers abandoned a home in which 
they were not persecuted and could not persecute, and 
came to New England where they could enjoy their 
cheerless religion in a thoroughly uncomfortable way, 
and recoup their own loss of happiness by making others 
miserable. With a holy zeal and awful joy they turned 
New England Sundays into days of wrath and tribula- 
tion, banishing smiles and caresses, outlawing physical 
and mental rest, and stretching both mind and body on 
the rack, — filling the hearts of young and old, innocent 
and guilty, with a paralyzing fear of death and hell, and 
depicting this hell of pulpit anathema with a dreadful 
realism that cast a spell of horror upon the bright face 
of Nature herself. 

Sometimes, in mentally picturing what the old Puri- 
tan Sabbath in New England was like, I could almost 
believe that it resembled the weird, uncanny condition of 
things, in medieval Europe, when the Pope had stretched 
forth his omnipotent hand and laid a kingdom under the 
dreaded Interdict. A shadow fell, and a great silence, 
and men walked about voiceless as shadows, and women 
crouched and prayed, and in the streets no music of chil- 
dren's merriment was heard, and from the fields came 
no anthem of plough-man or sower; joy was dead, and 
Christians were prostrate and afraid, for the Holy 
Father had laid the shadow of his frown upon the land. 
So, the New England Sunday. I wonder if the profane 
sun danced upon the house-tops, and the irreverent 
hill-streams dared to laugh as they ran to the bosom of 
the dells : I wonder if the amorous bees sipped the volup- 
tuous flowers, and if the lover bird was bold enough to 
woo his mate with song: and I wonder if the human 
mothers, on that dismal Sabbath, obeyed the law, and 
resisted, hour after hour, — during all that terrible, 
blighted day, — the dimpling cheeks and rose-leaf lips 
and longing eyes of the -babe which missed its mother's 
kiss! 

Dealing rigorously with himself and his own house- 
hold, the Puritan was a terror to the heathen, — and the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 285 

heathen, in his eyes, was the fellow-creature who either 
did not worship God at all, or did not do it in the Puritan 
way. For these heathen, the Pilgrim Fathers had no 
tolerance. Upon these heathen, our Pilgrim Fathers 
laid their hands heavily. The scourge, the branding 
iron, the dungeon, the gibbet were the instrumentalities 
used against these heathen by the godly men who came 
over to this country to escape persecution and enjoy 
religious freedom. Yes: they escaped persecution but, 
after they had landed in America, nobody else did. They 
came over to enjoy religious freedom, but they were 
piotisly determined that nobody else should. Quakers, 
Baptists, Episcopalians, and Catholics were criminals 
in the eyes of our Pilgrim Fathers, and very hard indeed 
was the lot of such heathen when they chanced to fall 
into the hands of the rigidly righteous of New England. 
The South was sprinkled with Puritan and Presby- 
terian and Calvinist elements, but the controlling influ- 
ence was Cavalier. Consequently, the antagonism 
between the Eastern and the Southern States may be 
said to have been brought from the old country. They 
had hated and fought each other in England: they hated 
and were to fight each other in North America. During 
the Revolutionary War the antagonism of the two sec- 
tions was constantly in evidence, both in the army and in 
Congress. Soldiers drawn from the East disliked their 
compatriots from the South, and the Southern rebel 
detested the fellow-patriot who hailed from New Eng- 
land. The two types differed radically — differed in 
creed, in blood, in the way of looking at things, in stand- 
ards, and in manners. While each spoke the English 
language, they differed so widely in pronunciation and 
intonation that each excited in the other a certain amount 
of ridicule and contempt. This is true of the Yankee 
and the Southerner of today, and it has always been so. 
We see the dislike of the Cavalier for the Puritan 
cropping out in the correspondence of General Washing- 
ton. In his letters, the Commander-in-Chief expressed 
his indignant contempt for the New Englanders who put 



286 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

selfish pecuniary interests above everything else, and 
who were lacking in the noble spirit of patriotic 
generosity. 

The first quarrel of the antagonistic sections broke 
out on the question of opening the Mississippi River to 
navigation. The South naturally wanted the use of this 
magnificent water-way: it was necessary to her growth 
and her extension into the Southwest. To her intense 
surprise and indignation, the North opposed her, and 
sided with Spain. In defiance of the angry protests of 
the Southern States, John Jay agreed upon a treaty 
with the Spanish negotiator in which New England got 
what she demanded and the Mississippi was closed to 
us for thirty-five years. However, the Constitutional 
Convention of 1787 was about to convene, and the North, 
conscious of the unwisdom of precipitating a storm at 
that time, quietly withdrew Jay's powers to treat, and 
his proposed surrender to Spain never took effect. 

It is the accepted belief that the main stumbling-block 
to the creation of the new Union, was the clash of 
interest between the large and small States. The truth 
is, that the real difficulty which confronted ' ' the Fathers ' * 
was the mutual jealousy of the North and South, It was 
to the interests of the nationalists to conceal this omi- 
nous fact, and they did it. The vow to secrecy, made at 
the commencement of the Convention, was faithfully 
kept; and, when the new Constitution was under discus- 
sion, the pledge to secrecy was tantamount to a con- 
spiracy of silence. Not only did James Madison, Alex- 
ander Hamilton and Edmund Randolph not disclose the 
facts, but, in the case of Madison at least, there was a 
deliberate misrepresentation of those facts. In one of 
the papers in the "Federalist," he dwells upon the provi- 
dential peace and harmony which prevailed in the secret 
Convention, when the truth is that violent storms raged 
therein, and at times the continued existence of the Con- 
vention hung upon a thread. And the cause of the 
trouble was ever the same, — the hatred and jealousy 
with which North and South regarded each other. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 287 

The Union could not have been formed at all had not 
the South yielded to the North the preponderance of 
power both in the Senate and in the House. Such 
Eastern leaders as Gouverneur Morris and Rufus King 
declared explicitly and emphatically that it would never 
do to allow the Southern States to have a majority in 
Congress. The North took that position as a matter of 
course, and maintained it throughout the Convention. 
Yet, at that time, the South surpassed the North in 
wealth, in population and in territory. By every known 
principle of representation, the Southern States were 
rightfully entitled to a majority in the new Government. 
But, strange to say, the Southern delegates did not even 
put forth a claim for the full measure of Southern rights. 
They surrendered control of the Senate, thus conceding 
to a small State like Delaware a power equal to such an 
empire as Texas or Ohio. This concession is justifiable 
only upon the theory that the sovereign, equal right of 
each State should be preserved in the Union. 

But the surrender to the North of control of the House 
of Representatives was utterly indefensible. There was 
the fountain head of all our woes. By a full count of 
population, the South would have had a slight majority 
in the House ; but with blindness, hard to comprehend or 
excuse, the Southern leaders allowed the North to base its 
representation on all the whites, all the blacks, all the 
sane and insane, all the men, women and children, while 
Southern representation was limited by the counting of 
five negroes as three. By accepting this monstrosity of 
compromise, the South put her neck in the yoke of the 
North, and she never could get it out. If the negroes were 
human beings, — persons, — they should have been counted 
just as other persons were counted. If they were not 
human beings, they should not have been taken into con- 
sideration at all. To count five of them as three, was 
mere nonsense. Why was that peculiar clause, which has 
puzzled so many students, put into the Constitution? 
Because the Northern delegates to the Convention flatly 
refused to let the South have the majority which would 



288 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

have been hers, had all persons been counted in the 
South, as in the North. The speeches made in the Con- 
vention prove that the Southern leaders believed that 
the tide of population was setting Southward, and that 
the Southern States would soon control the House: this 
fact serves to partially explain their terrible mistake. 
But, at best, they were surrendering the bird in the hand 
for the bird in the bush, and the subsequent history of j 

Northern tyranny and Southern helplessness is the 
ghastly monument to their folly. 

Some of the Southern delegates took alarm, and 
proposed that a two-thirds vote should be required in 
Congress to pass an Act regulating commerce. The pur- 
pose was to prevent the North from having everything I 
her own way. As commerce aifects all sections, it seemed i 
dangerous to give full control to the majority vote of the " 
North. But the Southern leaders were generous and 
trustful, as usual. Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, 
declared that he was conscious of the gravity of the con- 
cession the South was making: "he considered the 
interests of these (the Southern States) and the Eastern 
States to be as different as the interests of Russia and 
Turkey. Being, notwithstanding, desirous of conciliat- 
ing the affections of the Eastern States, he should vote 
against requiring two-thirds instead of a majority." 

Gallant Mr. Butler! "Desirous of conciliating the 
affections of the Eastern States!" 

Unsuspicious, unwary, big-hearted and magnani- 
mous, the Southern leaders fashioned the chains for the 
limbs of their posterity, and we wear them now, even as 
our fathers did. As already stated, these secrets of the 
Convention of 1787 were not revealed until the publica- 
tion of the Madison papers by the Government, in 1842. 
Therefore, when South Carolina was making her des- 
perate stand against New England, in 1833, she could 
not have known that it was her own delegate, in the Con- 
vention of 1787, who had urged that the East be given 
the power to oppress and despoil the South, — doing it 
with full knowledge of the risk, but overmastered by the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 289 

desire to "conciliate the affections of the Eastern 
States." 

When one remembers the especial hatred of New 
England for South Carolina, and the barbaric Inst with 
which Sherman's army wreaked its vengeance on the 
Palmetto State, one could fancy that there was sardonic 
and derisive applause in hell when the South Carolina 
delegate made that fatuous speech in the Constitutional 
Convention. 

Appendix. 

Some early American manifestation of fanatical 
intolerance that made it a crime to sing, walk, laugh, 
cook, kiss or shave on Sunday. 

Blue laws are no joke, though often an object of irony or deri- 
sion. They were drawn up by Puritan pioneers — a race of stern 
and inflexible men, who, in their excess of religious enthusiasm, 
adopted such sanctimonious names as Stand-Fast-on-High Stringer, 
Kill-Sin Pimple, More-Fruit Fowler, Fight-the-Good-Fight-of-Faith 
White, and If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-You-You-Had-Been Damned 
Barebones — the latter commonly shortened to Damned Barebones. 
For the benefit of the present generation it may be as well to say 
here that each one of the names just cited was actually given to and 
borne by a man, and that many other names of the same sort are 
to be found in the records of New England. 

These men went straight to the old Mosaic law of Holy Writ for 
their code. In fact, each section of the capital laws has its Bible 
text appended — a gruesome combination of sermon and death- 
warrant. 

The original Blue laws were those of the New Haven (Connecti- 
cut) Colony, at first more or less unwritten, or at least unprinted, 
but systematized and printed by Gov. Baton in 1656. They were 
enveloped in blue-colored paper, whence the popular (and subse- 
quently unpopular) name. 

The Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies also had their Blue 
laws, calculated to send a chill through every human vein. Even 
New York, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina — in fact, all the 
English colonial settlements in seventeenth century America, had 
lavv's, orders, and resolutions of more or less pronounced indigo 
tinge. 

But the True Blue code was that which terrorized early Con- 
necticut. 

The first batch of Blue laws, known as the "Capital laws" of 
Connecticut, and purporting to punish, according to the penalties 
prescribed by the Old Testament, those offenses forbidden therein, 
was enacted in April, 1642. The texts of Scripture on which they 
were based were added to each law, as dicta probantia, showing the 
divine authority by which they were defended. They are singular 
speciments of jurisprudence. 



290 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

For instance, witchcraft is one of the first offenses taken up. It 
is enacted that "if a man or woman be a witch, or hath consulted 
with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death." (Exodus xxii., 
18. Leviticus xx., 22.) And "if any man steal a man or mankind. 
or selleth him, or he be found in his hand, he shall be put to death.'' 
(Exodus xxi., 16.) 

Yet the good colonists made slaves of the Pequot Indians, as the 
regulation punishment for breaking these same Blue laws! 

The Puritan legislators, having disposed of the ordinary, every- 
day crimes, went on in due course to enact the more minute laws, 
covering every conceivable misdemeanor, from sneezing in church 
to crossing a stream otherwise than by the licensed ferry. 

It reminds one of De Quincey's ironical observation, to the effect 
that the habit of murder, if persisted in, may lead insensibly to pro- 
crastination and Sabbath-breaking. 

The following examples, transcribed literally from the best au- 
thorities on American Colonial history, relate mostly to the heinous 
crime of Sabbath-breaking: 

CONNECTICUT BLUE LAWS. 
(Quoted from Hinman, Peters, Barber and Other Authorities.) 

"No one shall run on the Sabbath day, or walk in his garden or 
elsewhere, except reverently to and from meeting. 

"No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep house, cut 
hair or shave on the Sabbath day. 

"No woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath or fasting day. 

"The Sabbath shall begin at sunset on Saturday. 

"If any man shall kiss his wife or wife kiss her husband on the 
Lord's day, the party in fault shall be punished at the discretion of 
the Court of Magistrates." 

(Tradition says a gentleman of New Haven, after an absence of 
some months, reached home on the Sabbath, and, meeting his wife 
at his door, kissed her with an appetite, and for his temerity in 
violating this law the next day was arraigned before the court, and 
fined, for so palpable a breach of the law on the Lord's day.) 

"No one shall read common prayer, keep Christmas or saints' 
days, make minced pies, dance, play cards or play on any instrument 
of music, except the drum, trumpet and jewsharp. 

"Whoever wears clothes trimmed with gold, silver or bone lace, 
above two shillings by the yard, shall be presented by the grand 
jurors, and the selectmen shall tax the offender at £300 estate." 

There was an ancient law in Massachusetts that ladies' dresses 
should be made so long as to hide their shoe buckles. 

The tradition that beer was forbidden to be made on Saturday, 
to prevent the commission of sin by its working on the Sabbath, 
upon the penalty of flogging the barrel, the historian Hinman 
quotes, but is unable to verify. 

Smokers may light their pipes with this choice extract from the 
early laws of the colony of New Plymouth (Mass.), 1669: 

"It is enacted by the court, that any p'son or p'sons that shall be 
found smoaking Tobacco an the Lord's day, going too or coming 
from the meetings, within two miles of the meeting house, shall pay 
twelve pence for every such default to the collonie's use." 

Among the "Capital laws of the Colony of New Plymouth, revised 
and published by order of the General Court, in June, 1671," this 
pleasant little paragraph is found : 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 291 

DEATH FOR SUNDAY OFFENDERS. 

"This court taking notice of great abuse, and many misde- 
meanors committed by divers persons in these many wayes, pro- 
faneing the Sabbath or Lord's day, to the great dishonour of God, 
reproach of Religion, and grief of the spirits of God's people. Do, 
therefore order, that whosoever shall profane the Lord's day, by 
doing unnecessary servile work, by unnecessary traveling or, by 
sports and recreations, he or they that so transgress, shall forfeit for 
every such default forty shillings, or be publicly whipt; but if it 
clearly appear that sin was proudly, presumptuously, and with a 
high hand committed, against the known command and authority of 
the blessed God, such a person therein despising and reproaching 
the Lord, shall be put to Death, or grievously punished at the judg- 
ment of the Court. — Numbers, 15: from 30 to 36 verse." 

It ought to be apparent from the foregoing that there is even 
more logic than chance in the dubbing of these statutes, "Blue 
laws." The term "blue" was specifically applied to the upright, 
downright, uncompromising old Scotch Covenanters in contradis- 
tinction to the royal red. 

"Blue — dismal, depressed, despondent, hypochondriacal," is an 
up-to-date distionary definition. 

Even so conservative a commentator as Dr. Samuel M. Smucker 
in the preface to his collection of the "Earliest Statutes and Judicial 
Proceedings of the Colony of Connecticut," while paying tribute to 
the New England Puritans as "the same class of men who over- 
turned the ancient monarchy of Britain," declares that these Blue 
laws "exceed in the minuteness of their detail and in the severity of 
their penalties the enactments which were adopted by the rest of the 
American colonies; nor are they equalled in those respects by the 
statutes and judicial decisions of any other community with which 
we are acquainted." — New York World. 



292 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

"I swEAB, SO help me God," said Washington, in a 
voice which could hardly be heard by the Chancellor who 
administered the oath or by the Revolutionary com- 
panions-in-arms who stood near him: when he straight- 
ened, after stooping to ''kiss the Book," Livingston 
waved his hand and shouted, "Long live George Wash- 
ington, President of the United States,"— and prolonged 
cheers rang out from the enthusiastic multitude which 
had collected in the streets of New York to witness the 
first inauguration of the Chief Magistrate of the third 
''perpetual Union" of the North American States. 
Washington was elected President by the unanimous 
vote of the electors ; but New York was not represented 
in the colleges, and neither North Carolina nor Rhode 
Island had yet adopted the new Constitution. 

The Federalists organized the Government and for 
twelve years controlled it. Hamilton was the masterful 
mind of Washington's administration, and his political 
ideal was the English system. To draw power from the 
States, to centralize and consolidate, to attach the wealth 
of the country to the Federal authority, to evolve a 
moneyed aristocracy out of Special Privilege, were his 
objects ; and before he had been in the Cabinet two years 
he had taken giant strides toward success by the assump- 
tion of the State debts, by issuing bonds for the national 
debt, by the enactment of a protective tariff act, and by 
having the Government go into copartnership with the 
rich in the establishment of a national bank. 

The opposition to these plans, which Mr. Jefferson 
started in the Cabinet, was organized by him and his 
lieutenants after his resignation, and, while the Fed- 
eralists were able to elect John Adams, Jefferson, a close 
second in the contest, became Vice-President. Mr. 
Adams made the natural but fatal blunder of retaining 
Washington's Cabinet, and upon this official family of 
the Chief Magistrate, Hamilton wielded a controlling 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 293 

influence. Since Adams was too independent to be Ham- 
ilton's puppet, and too courageous to be afraid of Mm, 
and too sagacious not to penetrate the selfishness and 
danger of some of his schemes, and too jealous and sus- 
picious not to harbor dislike, — Hamilton turned against 
his chief and assailed him savagely. This feud, together 
with the immense unpopularity of the Alien and Sedition 
laws, caused the Federalist party to go down in irre- 
trievable defeat. 

The "Virginia House" came in with Jetferson and 
for twenty-four years remained in the ascendant. So 
thorough was the organization and discipline of the Jef- 
ferson Republicans that it was practically a national 
"machine." To antagonize it meant loss of power in 
national politics — as such insurgents as John Randolph 
discovered. So well in hand were matters kept, that the 
chiefs of the party knew in advance how the Presidential 
succession was to go. It was "understood" that Mr. 
Madison was to succeed Mr. Jefferson; and it was 
"understood" that Mr. Monroe would follow Mr. Madi- 
son. The nominations were made by a caucus of Con- 
gressmen, and over such a nominating body the Admin- 
istration naturally had great influence. The Federalist 
party being dead, and the Jefferson Republicans in full 
control, a caucus nomination was equivalent to an 
election. 

Had William H. Crawford gone into a struggle for 
the nomination at the time Monroe got it, there is little 
doubt that the great Georgian would have reached the 
"White House. As it was, he received a very large vote 
in the caucus. He was a much abler man than Monroe, 
and would perhaps have made a magnificent President; 
but he deferred to the Virginia House and to Revolu- 
tionary prestige, and, saying, "I am young enough to 
wait," declined to actively oppose Monroe. He could 
not foresee that by the time eight more years had gone 
by, his own health would be hopelessly shattered, that 
the Republican party of Jefferson would be breaking up 
of its own weight, and that aspirants for the Presidency 



294 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

who had no chance in the Congressional Caucus would 
denounce the machine and make a direct appeal to the 
people. According to "the gentlemen's agreement," 
Crawford got the nomination, after Monroe had served 
his second term, but by that time the nomination was not 
only worthless, but a positive handicap. The Jefferson 
Republicans were no longer a disciplined army; they 
were split up into clashing squads, and other Richmonds 
were in the field eager for the crown. 

Long-headed politicians, such as Aaron Burr, 
Edward Livingston and William B. Lewis, had realized, 
soon after the close of the War of 1812, that Andrew 
Jackson's popularity could be utilized to overthrow the 
House of Virginia, the Congressional Caucus, and the 
office-holding clique that was in control. When the sub- 
ject was mentioned to the old General, however, he pooh- 
poohed it. Totally lacking in false modesty, and not 
burdened with any other sort, Jackson had told 
LaFayette that he thought himself worthy to be the 
donee of Washington's pistols, and in his speeches and 
proclamations had given evidence of sufficient self- 
esteem: but when the calculating politicians mentioned 
the Presidency, the General said, most positively, that 
he wasn't fit for it. He said, in substance, that he had 
a talent for handling troops, "in a rough sort of way," 
but that he was not cut out for the position of Chief 
Magistrate of the United States. 

Nevertheless, he at length consented tO make the race. 
And, of course, after he got into the fight, the old war- 
rior developed his usual determination to win. His com- 
petitors were John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford 
and Henry Clay. Like himself, the other candidates had 
been known as Jefferson Republicans. 

Crawford has almost become a myth in our national 
history. Few facts about him are told in any of the 
books. Yet his jDublic career was long and distinguished ; 
he served his country prominently at home and abroad, 
and he was recognized as the heir apparent to the Presi- 
dency at the opening of Monroe's administration. Him- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 295 

self a Virginian by birth, he was in his eleventh year 
when his father, Joel Crawford, after living in South 
Carolina several years, crossed the Savannah River and 
settled in Columbia County, Georgia. Young Crawford 
attended the Academy of the celebrated Dr. Waddell, at 
Mount Carmel. After completing the course of study 
there, Crawford acted as usher in the school and received 
one-third of the tuition money for his services. This 
position he held until April, 1796, when he became one of 
the teachers in the Richmond Academy, Augusta, 
Georgia. He not only continued his academic studies 
while in Augusta, but read law and was admitted to the 
bar (1798). Removing to Oglethorpe County in the 
spring of 1799, he worked his way up, from the bottom, 
as so many of the eminent men of this country have done. 
In a very short time, "Billy Crafford," as the people 
called him, was the "bull of the woods" of his part of 
the State. Tall, big, well-made but not graceful, hand- 
some, genial, fearless, with kindly blue eyes which blazed 
fiercely when he was aroused, Crawford was a delightful 
companion in private circles and a natural leader in 
public affairs. An able and successful lawyer, he soon 
went into politics and was the chief of one of the factions 
of the bitterest feud the State of Georgia ever knew. He 
himself was drawn into duels, killed a young lawyer 
named Van Alen in one of them, and had his left wrist 
shattered in another. General John Clark, who was his 
antagonist in this fight, labored earnestly and persist- 
ently to persuade Crawford meet him again, but Craw- 
ford as earnestly and persistently refused. 

Sent to the State Legislature for four years in suc- 
cession, he was elected to the United States Senate in 
1807. Thus at the age of thirty-five, he had become a 
recognized leader of the bar and had reached one of the 
proudest pinnacles in national politics. 

In Washington, his extraordinary ability won imme- 
diate recognition. He was the peer of such men as Giles 
and Benton and Clay and Adams. No Senator spoke 
wth greater clearness, conciseness and force. In the 



296 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

debate in the national bank, he shone to better advan- 
tage than Clay. Each afterwards took the other side of 
the question — Clay, when he embraced Hamiltonianism, 
and Crawford, when it was shown him that the Conven- 
tion of 1787 had voted down the proposition to give Con- 
gress the authority to charter corporations. 

Elected President pro tern, of the Senate, he occupied 
the chair during the debates which preceded the declara- 
tion of war against Great Britain, — a war which he 
heartily favored. 

It was perhaps a great mistake in Crawford to 
decline the Secretaryship of War offered him by Presi- 
dent Madison. Instead, he accepted the mission to 
France (1813). The Emperor Napoleon was impressed 
by his gigantic stature and manly bearing, and spoke of 
his simplicity and truthfulness as being the peculiar 
products of a Republic; but it does not appear that any 
important consequences were realized or expected from 
the mission. Crawford could not speak French, and the 
Emperor spoke no English ; and therefore Napoleon said, 
somewhat querulously, that the United States had sent 
him two Ministers, one of whom was deaf and the other 
dumb. Mr. Livingston, who was hard of hearing, was 
one of the two, — Crawford, the other. 

In 1817, Mr. Crawford entered Monroe's Cabinet as 
Secretary of the Treasury, and he held the place until 
1825. His administration of the affairs of the office was 
so generally satisfactory that when John Quincy Adams 
became President, he tendered the nomination for 
Treasurer to Mr. Crawford ; but, on account of his being 
paralyzed, the latter declined the offer. 

Of John Quincy Adams, it is a matter of some deli- 
cacy for a Southern man to speak. His name is so 
inseparably connected with the virulent sectionalism of 
which the South was the victim, that the son of a slave- 
holder cannot pretend to love Mr. Adams very much. 

The historian must, however, do his duty, and must 
say, with all proper emphasis, that John Quincy Adams 
was as honest and conscientious a man as ever occupied 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 297 

the Presidential chair. His natural capacity was of a 
high order, and he was decidedly the best educated 
statesman of his day. No diplomat could draw up a 
better State-paper. No politician had a loftier concep- 
tion of public duty. In that respect, he was absolutely 
Washingtonion in virtue. He judged every applicant 
for office by the rule of fitness for the place. If his 
warmest supporter was lacking in the necessary qualifi- 
cations, it was useless for him to apply to Adams. On 
the contrary, he kept his bitterest opponents in office, 
because of the fidelity and capacity with which they were 
performing their duties. 

But it was not in John Quincy Adams to fire the 
imagination and warm the heart of a people. Even in 
New England he was admired and supported without 
being loved. 

In physique, he was unprepossessing. His figure was 
short and not well formed; his head was bald and his 
eyes watery. Temperamentally, he was unmagnetic. 
The politicians of today would say that he was "not a 
good handshaker, — did not know how to mix and min- 
gle." To the common herd he appeared unsocial, ungra- 
cious, unysmpathetic, and his manner was so unfortu- 
nate that he sometimes offended those whom he obliged. 
In his family, however, he was most amiable; and in a 
circle of private friends, free and easy and even 
facetious. 

In his private correspondence, he does not appear in 
a lovable light, and his "Diary" is an ocean of male- 
volence. Much is to be allowed to John Quincy Adams 
on account of heredity. His parents were a unique 
couple, and little John Quincy never could have been a 
boy like other boys. I have often lingered over the let- 
ters written by members of this Adams family to each 
other, and wondered if that epistolary style was to any 
extent epidemic in New England. Was it a sporadic 
case? or did the Puritans, generally, fire miniature 
essays and diminutive State-papers at their wives and 
husbands and sons and daughters? 

20 a j 



298 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

In uxorious epistles to Mrs. John Adams, her lord 
and master always addresses her as "My dearest 
friend." In one of the letters, the husband describes his 
inauguration as President, and tells her that a man of 
the name of Mason had declared that he had never heard 
such a speech in all his life (Adams' speech), and that 
Mason said the country would lose nothing by the change 
from George Washington to John Adams. In a con- 
cluding line, Mr. Adams states that "all agree that it" 
(his inauguration) "was the sublimest thing ever exhib- 
ited in America. ' ' 

The letter of Mrs. Adams in reply to her spouse, 
starts out with a couplet of poetry, is illustrated by his- 
torical illusion, is enriched by Scriptural quotation, and 
is altogether one of the primmest, stateliest, most rhet- 
orical epistles that a wife ever wrote to a husband. 

Such formality governing the correspondence of the 
parents, we may not be surprised when the son, John 
Quincy, at the age of nine years, holds forth to his 
father in manner and form following, to-wit : 

"Baintree, June 2nd, 1777. 
^'Dear Sir: — 

"I love to receive letters very well; much better than I love to 
viTite them. I make but a poor figure at composition. My head is 
much too fickle. My thoughts are running after birds' eggs, play 
and trifles, till I get vexed vi^ith myself. Mamma has a troublesome 
task to keep me a studying. I own I am ashamed of myself. I have 
but just entered the third volume of Rollin's History, but designed 
to have got half through it by this time. I am determined this week 
to be more diligent. Mr. Thaxter is absent at Court. I have set 
myself a stint this week, to read the third volume half out. If I 
can but keep my resolution, I may again at the end of the week give 
a better account of myself. I wish, sir, you would give me in writ- 
ing, some instructions with regard to the use of my time, and advise 
me how to proportion my studies and play, and I will keep them by 
me, and endeavor to follow them. 

"With the present determination of growing better, I am, dear 
sir. Your son, 

"JOHN QUINCY ADAMS." 

"P. S. S'ir: — If you will be so good as to favor me with a blank 
book, I will transcribe the most remarkable passages I meet with in 
my reading, which will serve to fix them upon my mind." 

This remarkable missive contains no other intrinsic 
evidence to prove that it was written by a son to his 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 299 

paternal parent than the formal words, "Your son." 
The dignified little writer does not even unbend to say, 
''Your affectionate son," — much less to substitute 
''Dear Papa" for "Dear Sir." 

In the foregoing, John Quincy makes a sportive ref- 
erence to birds' eggs, but I think he assumed that his 
statement would be taken in a figurative or Pickwickian 
sense. I myself do not believe that John Quincy Adams 
ever played mumble-peg, ever skinned the cat, ever rode 
the bull-calf, ever pinched a pretty girl, or ever robbed a 
bird's nest. It ran in the family to be stilted, self-con- 
scious, formal and somewhat bombastic, — and when we 
come upon a letter written by John Quincy 's sister, 
Abigail, we find her describing her own father to her 
own mother in these high-stepping terms : 

"I discover a thousand traits of softness, delicacy and sensibility 
in this excellent man's character. I was once taught to fear his 
virtues; happy am I that I find them rather to love, grown up 
into life unknown to him, and ignorant of him. * * * How 
amiable, how respectable, how worthy of every token of my atten- 
tion, has this conduct rendered a parent, a father, to whom we feel 
due even a resignation of our opinions!" 

f 

You can draw a mental picture of this starchy and 
premature little girl growing up into a stately dame, 
imposing and somewhat tremendous, and being wedded, 
after ceremonious negotiations, to the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, or at least, to the Canon of Westminster 
Abbey. You feel taken aback and slightly injured when 
you discover that, after all, she married a man named 
Smith. 



300 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

There are to be found, here and there, in the annals 
of nations, some very remarkable instances of great men 
whose fame and power rested upon the support of an 
unselfish and almost unknown friend. In the case of 
Lord Thurlow, to whom the comparatively obscure Har- 
grave was the indispensable prop, the singular facts live 
in immortal fiction, for Dickens made use of it in his 
most perfect novel, "The Tale of Two Cities." Sidney 
Carton and the boisterous, self-assertive Striver — the 
one sensitive, retiring, and a slave to drink, the other 
bold, brassy, voluble and merely absorbtive mentally — 
were portrayed by Dickens as the jackal and the lion; 
and the characters were suggested to him by the rela- 
tions that existed between the modest London lawyer, 
Hargrave, and the blustering, brow-beating, superficial 
Lord Chancellor Thurlow. 

It may not be true that the almost mythical "grey 
cardinal" was as much to Richelieu as has been pre- 
tended, but in the case of Mirabeau there can be no 
doubt of the way he fed on the fertile brain of the 
Genevese Dumont — a man who shrank from notoriety 
and whose unselfish services to the orator and tribune 
were known only to the few. 

A yet more interesting instance is that of the 
Emperor Napoleon III. and the Duke De Morny. If you 
have a book with the necessary pictures in it, compare 
the faces of Charles Bonaparte and his wife, Letitia, 
with those of all the Bonaparte children, and then with 
that of Napoleon's son, and those of Prince Napoleon, — 
"Plon Plon" — or any other Bonaparte of the second 
generation, known to be legitimate, — ^and you will imme- 
diately recognize the facial resemblance. The Bona- 
parte features are unmistakable. But study the face of 
Napoleon III. His are not Bonaparte features. They 
are coarse, heavy, dull. Some of the Bonaparte faces are 
sensual, but none of them are coarse, or heavy, or dull. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 301 

The countenance of the third Emperor Napoleon 
suggests slowness of mental process, phlegm of disposi- 
tion and irresolution of purpose. There is no sugges- 
tion of reserved power, internal fire, intellectual vivacity. 
His face looks Dutch, — quite properly, for his father 
was a Dutchman. 

But his mother. Queen Hortense, brought into the 
world another son, who is to me one of the most fasci- 
nating men of history. His father was the Duke of 
Flahaut, a gay gallant, — one of the braves who galloped 
with the last of the great Captain's orders at Waterloo. 

De Morny was addicted to pleasure, else he would 
have left a mark on Europe deep as that of Richelieu. 
He was quick as lightning, possessed unerring sagacity, 
was bold and resourceful, was a natural politician. It 
was his hand that steered his halting, blundering, half- 
brother through the Coup d'etat, and made him Emperor. 
It was he who piloted Napoleon III. through all sorts of 
difficulties. Had De Morny lived, Germans would not 
have caught Frenchmen unprepared. 

Exhausted by excesses and cut down in the prime of 
life, De Morny had a last and most affecting talk with 
his half-brother, and as the weeping Emperor was leav- 
ing the room, the dying man called him back and said, 
once more, ''Sire, beware of Prussia." 

Napoleon III. did not know how to profit by the 
advice, allowed his bigoted wife to push him into a war 
for which France was not ready, and, in the effort to 
gratify the Pope by a victory over Protestant Prussia, 
the Napoleonic dynasty was swept away, and France 
crushed and dismembered. 

As long as human records are kept and read, the 
name of Andrew Jackson will shine among the fixed 
stars. He won his way by indomitable pluck, fierce 
determination and energy, his ambition being of the 
loftiest type and his success of the kind that dazzles. No 
matter how much we may feel compelled to condemn him 
for the spots, we are forced to admit that it is a blazing 



302 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Sim we are looking at and quarreling with, — not a fire-fly, 
or even a comet. 

Yet at the very foundation of his success, lies the 
support of a man whose name was utterly unknown to 
the millions who shouted, "Hurrah for Jackson!" This 
unassuming friend, who kept himself in the background 
always, was William B, Lewis. 

In the case of most of the helpers of great men, — the 
jackals who bring food to the lions — there is a sharing 
of the spoil. Sometimes they follow from afar and are 
content with the crumbs, but in the generality of 
instances, the aid is amply rewarded. So far as I know, 
the devotion of William B. Lewis to Andrew Jackson is 
unique, in that he never even seemed to think of asking 
anything for himself. He was a fountain of friendship, 
loyalty, and service that flowed spontaneously, inces- 
santly, copiously, gratuitously. In war and in peace, in 
politics and in soldiering, Lewis was always ready, 
willing, capable, indispensable. Advising his chief, 
restraining him, writing his more important letters, 
proclamations, and public manifestos for him, election- 
eering for him, planning for him, pulling wires for him, 
covering up ugly things for him, telling lies for him, — 
the faithful Lewis balked at nothing. And whenever 
Lewis could get to Jackson before he had already 
formed and expressed an opinion, he could wind his 
chief around his little finger without the doughty old 
warrior suspecting that he was being put on the spool. 

If ever the General, at an emergency, blazed away on 
his own hook, — he was pretty apt to make a nice hot 
mess of it. For instance, he flew off the handle because 
General Winfield Scott characterized as mutinous one of 
Jackson's "General Orders," which was uncommonly 
mutinous, and he fired an impromptu letter at Scott 
which carries consternation to Jacksonian worshippers, 
— it is so crude, violent, and indefensible. Lewis had 
not got the chance to revise and recast it, you see. Nor 
was Lewis with him in that last glorious trip to Florida, 
when, as Governor, he got everything in such a ridicu- 
lous tangle. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 303 

Determined to make a President out of his chief, 
Colonel Lewis set to work with his usual shrewdness, 
method, energy and diplomacy. Knowing that the Con- 
gressional Caucus would never listen to the proposition 
to nominate Jackson, the obvious thing to do was to 
attack the caucus. It had given the country several 
excellent Presidents: it was about to name another can- 
didate who possessed every qualification for the office; 
no breath of scandal had ever blown against it; no hint 
of corruption had ever been dropped about it,— but it 
had to go, nevertheless. It was in Andrew Jackson's 
way; and whatever was in the way of that stern, 
inflexible man, was necessarily bad, unpatriotic, and 
detrimental to the country. 

In a very short while, Colonel Lewis got busy with a 
systematic assault upon the wicked, obstructive caucus, 
and he said lots of hard things about it. He drew dark 
pictures of plottings and jugglings, and various other 
suspicious parleyings that went on, behind closed doors, 
in this Congressional Caucus. 

The men who made up this disreputable convention 
were those upon whose characters the people themselves 
had passed in electing them to Congress. In the event 
of their choosing an unfit candidate for President, they 
not only ran the risk of having their man defeated, but 
of being beaten themselves by their resentful constitu- 
ents at the next election. Therefore, you might always 
say that kind of a nominating convention was under 
bond to select a fit and proper candidate. The more I 
think of it, the greater is my inclination to have a good 
opinion of the old Congressional Caucus. It had many 
advantages over our present system, where money and 
patronage are used to secure the nomination as well as 
to carry the election. 

But, the nominating convention, composed of states- 
men like John Forsyth, Thomas H. Benton, Henry Clay, 
Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, George McDuffie, 
Nathaniel Macon, Thomas W. Cobb, etc., etc., was in 
Andrew Jackson's way. Of course, it was a palpably 



304 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

dangerous and corrupt thing, and had to die. By the 
time Lewis had accused it of all the things which he was 
doing and the caucus wasn't, it had few friends. 

When it finally convened to nominate Crawford, 
which it did almost unanimously, only 66 men attended 
out of a membership of 261. That sort of nominating 
convention never met again. ''King Caucus" was dead, 
and the country well on its way to the spoils system, and 
the modern practice of buying both nomination and 
^election. 

General Jackson was, very properly, put in the race 
by the legislature of Tennessee. His home State was 
enthusiastic for him and nobody doubted that he would 
receive almost every vote that was cast; but one of the 
U. S. Senators from Tennessee was pledged to Crawford. 
Here was a dilemma, for it was time for a successor to 
this Senator to be chosen, and he was a candidate for 
re-election. It would not hurt Jackson's chances in 
Tennessee to have the legislature which put him in nomi- 
nation for the Presidency to elect a Crawford man to 
the U. S. Senate, but what would the effect be in other 
States? 

Colonel Lewis and Judge Overton decided that Sena- 
tor John Williams must be defeated, and they went 
actively to work at Murfreesboro, where the legislature 
was in session, to do it. 

To their dismay they found that there wasn't a single 
available candidate who" could muster enough votes. 
The fine soldier who had gone with his regiment of regu- 
lars to Jackson's relief at the most critical time of the 
Creek War, and who had contributed so largely to the 
success of the campaign, was immensely popular. It 
suddenly dawned upon the astute Lewis that there was 
only one man in Tennessee who could beat John Wil- 
liams, and that was Old Hickory himself! Post-haste 
Judge Overton made a bee-line for the Hermitage, arriv- 
ing there at breakfast time. The situation at Murfrees- 
boro was explained to the General ; and the necessity for 
the use of his name was stated. Quick as a flash he 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 305 

decided. *'Go right back to Murfreesboro and put my 
name in nomination. I do not want the office, but, by 
the Eternal, John Williams shall not be re-elected." 

Overton hurried back to the legislature immediately: 
Jackson was nominated, on the same day, and Williams 
defeated. 



306 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

On December 5th, 1823, the General was sworn in as 
Senator, and for the remainder of the session of nearly 
six months he spent the greater part of his time in Wash- 
ington City. Aunt Eachel remained at the Hermitage, 
in Tennessee. 

Some of the General's votes in the Senate are sur- 
prising, and the wonder is that his personal and political 
foes, who were numerous and rancorous, did not dig into 
the records at Washington, instead of harping upon the 
high-handed manner in which he took another man's 
wife. They attacked him savagely and continuously 
about John Woods, and the six militia men, and Ambris- 
ter and Arbuthnot; but in all these cases Jackson and 
his defenders could interpose in his behalf the findings 
of courts-martial. But there was nothing to screen him 
from direct personal responsibility for his vote against 
the removal of the tariff duty on cotton bagging. 

Henry Clay's partisans could not have made political 
capital out of that, but the Crawford men might have 
used it with telling effect throughout the cotton belt. 

The General also voted against the reduction of the 
duty on cotton goods. This, likewise, could have turned 
into a most damaging weapon in the intensely hot politi- 
cal battles that raged during the subsequent years. The 
same thing may be said of his votes against the reduc- 
tion of duties on imported iron, and upon wool and 
woolen goods. True, the tariff on these various articles 
was nothing like the prohibitive rates that have since 
been wrung from Congress by the insatiable manufac- 
turers, but they were too high, even then. The General's 
votes were bad votes. No word of defense can be uttered 
in behalf of his antagonism to free cotton bagging; nor 
for his opposition to the increase of the duty on silks. 
To go upon record as favoring the increased cost of the 
necessaries of life, which the poor are compelled to buy 
in order that they may continue to exist, was certainly a 
strange thing for Andrew Jackson to do. And to extend 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 307 

Ms Senatorial protection to those who robe themselves 
in silks, was even more out of keeping with the popular 
conception of Old Hickory. "Luxuries must not advance 
in price, but the necessaries shall," is a queer policy to 
discover in the Congressional record of the Presidential 
candidate whose champions proclaimed him "the Friend 
of the People." 

How short-sighted is partisan hatred! Had Jack- 
son's enemies let his wife's name alone, and said nothing 
about his military doings, — concentrating their assault 
upon his expense-accounts and his Senatorial votes, 
there might not have been a "Jacksonian Era" for his- 
torians to wrangle over. 

A very potent factor in political discussions for the 
last eighty and odd years is "the Colman Letter." One 
of the original Jackson men of Virginia, L. H. Colman, 
of Warrenton, wrote to the General, inquiring how he 
stood on the "protecting duty policy." Very promptly, 
he received a reply, — and a delicious specimen of flexible 
composition he got. 

The General's letter refers to the manner in which 
"Heaven smiled upon, and gave us liberty and independ- 
ence." Then the General argues that "If we omit or 
refuse to use the gifts which He has extended to us, we 
deserve not the continuance of His blessings." The Gen- 
eral then proceeds to say that it is our solemn duty to 
provide ourselves with means for national defense, and 
that we must protect our manufacturers and laborers 
from European competition in order "that we may have 
within our own country a. supply of those leading and 
important articles so essential to war." The General is 
careful, very careful, to say that the tariff which he 
favors must be "a judicious one." Furthermore, he con- 
tends that the agriculturalists are suffering for lack of a 
market for their surplus products; and that too much 
labor is employed in agriculture, anyway; and that the 
channels of labor must be multiplied, so that the super- 
abundance of farm labor may be drawn into manufac- 
turers, — thus simultaneously decreasing agricultural 



308 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

products and increasing the demand for them. The Gen- 
eral figures that there are 600,000 people engaged in 
agricultural pursuits who ought to be drafted into the 
factories, mines, and quarries. Make this change, 
argued the General, "and you at once give a home 
market for more breadstuffs than all Europe can 
furnish us." 

It is in bitterness of spirit that one reads this Colman 
letter and its confident prophecies, in the cruel white 
light of actual conditions. And the General's own votes 
are glaringly inconsistent with it. He based a part of 
his reasoning upon agricultural distress, and not only 
voted against relieving it, but to increase it! 

The Colman letter was a mighty vote-winner for 
Jackson. The Southern States worshipped the hero of 
New Orleans too fervently to be lost by anything that he 
was apt to do or say; and such States as Pennsylvania 
were won to him because of his firm stand for the Tariff. 

Boldly as the General voted against free bagging for 
cotton and lower rates on cloth and iron, he cast some 
anchors to windward. He favored a lower duty on 
blankets, and he came out squarely for the untaxed fry- 
ing pan. 

He likewise voted for the abolition of imprisonment 
for debt. The Tariff might reduce people to poverty, but 
the usual and inevitable consequences of such laws should 
not be penalized. 

On, went the Jacksonian campaign. The General's 
partisans worked like beavers. They were loud, confi- 
dent and aggressive. When every other argument 
was exhausted, they fell back on ' ' Hurrah for Jackson ! ' ' 
In vain, such men as Clay characterized the old hero as 
' ' a mere military chieftain. ' ' In the first place, military 
heroes have always been more popular than any other 
sort; and in this country, which had for its first Presi- 
dent "a military chieftain," the objection of Clay was 
particularly lacking in force. 

While the battle roared, the General behaved admir- 
ably. His friends all told him that he was sure to be 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 309 

elected, and he believed it. Serene of temper and concil- 
iatory in manner, his stay in Washington was marked by 
a constant increase in the number of his friends. He 
made the first advances to Thomas H. Benton, and con- 
verted that ancient foe into a life-long champion. He 
even exchanged civilities with Henry Clay. He buried 
the hatchet with General Scott. He won the admiration 
of Webster. "My wife is decidedly for him," wrote the 
''steam-engine in breeches." 

In short. Old Hickory, who had proved himself to be 
a ''natural-born" military genius, was now giving the 
country at large some evidences of what was already 
well-known in Tennessee, — that he was a first-class 
political strategist. 

Had not the General taken the stand he did on the 
Tariff, Henry Clay would probably have won the race. 
Winningly magnetic, where Crawford excited no enthu- 
siasm and Adams repelled. Clay would almost certainly 
have been one of the names before the House, had not 
the Colman letter carried so many Protectionists to 
Jackson. And as Clay was a Speaker of the House, and 
had a devoted following there, he would have found it 
much easier to have made himself President than it was 
for him to throw the prize to John Quincy Adams. 

Nothing could be loftier than Jackson's bearing 
during this campaign of 1824. He made no speech, went 
on no tour, issued no address. When urged to invade the 
Adams territory, he wrote, "I have no doubt if I was to 
travel to Boston, that it would insure my election. But 
this I cannot do ; I would feel degraded the balance of my 
life. If ever I fill that office (the Presidency) it must be 
by the free choice of the people." In another letter, he 
declared that he would not "intrigue nor combine with 
any man, nor any set of men," to get the office. 

What a noble, beautiful contrast that is to the stand- 
ards of today! No yelling into the phonograph, at $500 
per screech : no rear-end harangues, with a throat- 
specialist along : no continuous stream of fulminations in 
the newspapers. None of that for Andrew Jackson. 



310 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The deportment of Adams, Clay and Crawford was 
equally proud and unbending. Neither of these great 
political leaders and masters of strategy would stoop to 
the circus-ring methods of our day and generation, — 
methods which are as worthless as they are beneath the 
dignity of Presidential office. 

How Clay proved to^ be the hindmost man in the race ; 
how the election was thrown into the House; how the 
stroke of paralysis kept Crawford from receiving the 
support he expected, and put it out of Clay's power to 
consider him instead of Adams ; and how the warm Ken- 
tuckian allied himself to the cold Puritan,— making him 
President, — is one of the most familiar and dramatic 
episodes in American history. 

General Jackson was among the first and the 
heartiest to congratulate Mr. Adams upon his election. 
He went to the White House reception, gallantly, 
genially, and with a handsome lady on his arm. But in 
his soul, a storm of anger was raging. He believed that 
he had been cheated out of his just due. Between Clay 
and Adams, a guilty bargain had been made, and thus by 
corruption had the will of the people been thwarted. So 
thought Andrew Jackson. His letters were full of it. 
His private talk with confidential friends throbbed with 
it. And by the time Clay had been confirmed by the 
Senate as Secretary of State, the old General's fury 
burst all bounds, and his journey from Washington back 
to the Hermitage was made memorable in many places 
by his wild denunciations of Adams and Clay. 

He had not wanted to run for the Presidency, had 
been slow to enter the race, and had made no compro- 
mise of personal pride to win; but all the lion of his 
nature was roused by the disappointment and the wrong 
put upon him. Everybody could see that the General 
would try it again, and that the next campaign would 
be bloody. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 311 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

As John Quincy Adams was as much responsible for 
the Civil War as any other individual, we will devote this 
chapter to him and his administration, during which 
term of four years more incidents of lasting influence 
occurred than we find mentioned in the average history. 

But while we will go out to Georgetown to pay a visit 
to the fallen giant, Crawford, and take a trip to Georgia 
to see one of the greatest of American personalities, and 
while we may join the war party of Creeks who are seut 
to take vengeance upon General William Mcintosh for 
his sale of the tribal land, you must not forget, for one 
moment, that Andrew Jackson is running for President. 

State authorities may clash with the Federal Govern- 
ment, Indians may be on the warpath, Congress may 
set itself against President Adams and thwart such 
policies as he favors — none of these things greatly 
interest the old hero of the Hermigtage. He has frothed 
at the mouth so often about the "bargain and corrup- 
tion" which defeated him at the last election that he 
believes, unshakably, that Clay and Adams did come to 
an agreement before the one supported the other. 

There never was a scintilla of evidence to sustain the 
charge, but the tremendous driving force of Andrew 
Jackson whirled it over the whole country, and it was a 
death-blow to the Presidential aspirations of both Adams 
and Clay. By the unwritten law, Mr. Adams was 
entitled to a second term. His failure to get it angered 
him intensely, for he regarded the discrimination against 
him as a personal humiliation. A Southern man, sup- 
ported by his section, was the cause of Adams' misfor- 
tune; and herein lies one explanation of that raging 
hatred of the South which the remainder of his life so 
vividly displayed. 

While I am relating the various events which follow, 
you must keep ever in mind that Jackson and his friends 
are working away on his campaign, every week of the 



312 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

four years covered by this chapter. He departs some- 
what from that lofty policy of indifference. The people, 
of course, are to say whom they want for the next term 
of the Presidency, but General Jackson is now willing to 
do a great deal to help the people come to the conclusion 
that he is the man whom they prefer. He accepts invita- 
tions to appear in public, attends banquets, holds recep- 
tions ; and at New Orleans his friends arrange a monster 
demonstration which serves to remind the people of the 
crushing defeat he there inflicted upon the British. 

Although the old General was doing lots of hand- 
shaking, and was receiving numerous ovations, he 
remained the same choleric person that he had always 
been. Riding along the highway one day, near his Ala- 
bama plantation, the General met the overseer of the 
place. Surprised to find his trusted agent absent from 
his post of duty, the General made inquiry of him to the 
effect, "Why are you not on the plantation, as you are 
paid to be?" The agent, a much younger man than 
Jackson, gave the hero a "sassy" reply. Whereupon, 
the General whaled him with his stick. 

The man sneaked off to the nearest justice of the 
peace, and swore out a warrant against the General. 
Being a candidate for the Presidency, Jackson was not 
able to afford the luxury of defying the law, as he had so 
often done in his past, so he appeared before the court, 
confessed the battery, was fined a small sum, and 
respectfully paid it. 

(In those days justices of the peace were almost as 
big as Federal judges and municipal recorders are, at 
the present time.) 

Temporarily, we bid the old General adieu, leaving 
him to press fiercely on in one of the most savage politi- 
cal campaigns that ever convulsed the Re]mblic — a cam- 
paign of abuse, of lies, of fist-and-skull fights, of cutting 
scrapes and shooting affairs; a campaign in which 
virulent accusations were hurled back and forth by 
furious partisans who respected neither man nor woman, 
neither the living nor the dead. Jackson himself had set 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 313 

the pace by his violence of speech, immediately after the 
senatorial confirmation of Henry Clay as Secretary of 
State. Violence begets violence, of course, and before 
the bloody fight was ended, his own wife, good Aunt 
Rachel, had been talked about and written about, as 
though she were an adulteress ; and Jackson was to weep 
tears of impotent rage and bitter grief, because of flings 
at his mother. 



In the very prime of life, William H. Crawford was 
stricken down, an incompetent country physician having 
given him lobelia for erysipelas. Almost blind, unable 
to articulate words distinctly, his walk a mere waddle, 
and his strength insufficient to support him for more 
than a few steps at a time, the once physical and intel- 
lectual giant had become as pitiable a wreck as ever 
saddened the heart of wife and child and friend. 

Now, while Crawford was in this condition, political 
rancor continued to shoot poisoned arrows at him, and 
he was accused of illegalities in the handling of the pub- 
lic funds. Congress investigated, found everything as it 
should be, and exonerated Crawford unanimously. But 
the sting lay in the fact that the newspaper, in which the 
most venomous of these attacks were made, was a Cal- 
houn organ, subsidized by Calhoun, and edited by one of 
the clerks of the War Office, employed and retained by 
Calhoun. These two great Southerners, Crawford and 
Calhoun, had been boys together, at school ; had studied 
and played on the grounds of the Waddell Academy ; had 
browsed together among the books of the Waddell 
library. They had been life-long friends; and these 
wicked assaults upon the honor of the Georgian — con- 
tinued for a whole year in the columns of a paper edited 
by a Calhoun clerk, and sustained by Calhoun money — 
cut Crawford to the quick. He never forgave it. Later 
on, we shall see how the paralytic took his revenge. 

In ''The Life and Times of William H. Crawford," 
by Hon. J. E. D. Shipp, there is a chapter describing the 

21 a j 



314 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

beautiful domestic-life of the invalid, in the suburban 
home to which he had retreated ; and one can almost see 
and hear the sorrowful friends who come from the capi- 
tol on that snowy day of February, 1824, to bring the sad 
news that the day of Crawford, as a national figure, is 
over. After all, the swift runner has missed the goal; 
after all, the strong swimmer has gone under. As the 
messengers tell their story, an expression of surprise 
and of melancholy spreads over the invalid's face; but 
he soon rallies, is himself again, and even jokes his 
friend Thomas W. Cobb about '"laughing on the wrong 
side of your mouth" — for Cobb was about to cry. 

When Nathaniel Macon described how heartily Gen- 
eral Jackson had congratulated and shaken hands with 
Mr. Adams, the blunt Crawford exclaimed: 

"That was a useless piece of hypocrisy. It deceived no one. 
Shaking hands was very well — was right — but the congratulatory 
speech might have been omitted. I like honesty in all things." 

Now, let us see whether Crawford practised what he 
preached. Notwithstanding the fact that the diary of 
John Quincy Adams paints Crawford in very dark colors, 
the assiduous keeper of that malevolent record tendered 
the Treasury portfolio to the statesman whom the diarist 
so cruelly maligned — the tender being couched in the 
language of respect and friendship. 

Crawford was poor, had a large family to support, 
and the temptation to remain in Washington, where he 
would enjoy a good salary, and still cut a national figure, 
might have overcome almost any other man. He himself 
did not hesitate a moment. He declined the office, for 
the reason that to serve under Mr. Adams would compro- 
mise his principles. 

So the family bade farewell forever to greatness and 
luxury, returning to the humble country home at Wood- 
lawn (now Crawford Station, on the Athens branch of 
the Georgia Railroad), where the broken statesman 
spent the remainder of his life. He was appointed Judge 
of the Superior Court of his circuit, and discharged its 
duties until his death, in September, 1834. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 315 

In many respects George M. Troup was one of the 
strongest men of his time. His natural ability was of a 
high order, and he was thoroughly educated. I have 
never read State papers which fascinated me as his do. 
A man of spotless morals, he was also a man of iron will ; 
and of fear he had no more sense than Old Hickory him- 
self. He served with distinction in Congress, but it was 
as Governor of Georgia that he made the most conspicu- 
ous exhibition of his magnificent qualities. 

The State had owned all of the territory now 
embraced within the boundaries of Alabama and Missis- 
sippi; but Georgia ceded these fifty million acres of the 
most fertile land to the General Government. The con- 
sideration was less than three cents per acre in money, 
and the stipulation that the United States would extin- 
guish the Indian title to all the land in Georgia held by 
the red men. Of course, it was contemplated that the 
Indians would be given an equivalent in the unoccupied 
wilderness west of the Mississippi River. 

This treaty between the State and the Federal Gov- 
ernment was made in 1802. Subsequent to that date, 
various cessions of land had been secured by the United 
States from the Southern tribes, but no consiflerable 
progress had been made in extinguishing Indian titles in 
Georgia. On the contrary, the Creeks and Cherokees had 
been treated with such consideration by the Federal Gov- 
ernment that they apparently lost all fear of being trans- 
ferred to the West. The chiefs built fine houses (fine for 
those days), sent their sons to college, bought negro 
slaves, opened up extensive plantations, and gave every 
evidence of a fixed purpose to remain where they were. 
In fact, the Cherokees formally declared that they never 
would sell any more of their land. 

The majority of the Creeks were of the same mind. 
In one of their councils, General William Mcintosh, a 
half-breed chieftain who had two Indian wives, proposed 
a new law, imposing the death penalty on any chief who 
should sign a cession of Indian land without having been 
authorized to do so by the whole tribe. 

This half-breed was a very distinguished man. His 



316 LIFE AND TIMES OP JACKSON. 

connections were "Indian," but his sympathies were 
"white." He had been against the Eed Sticks, and had 
given powerful assistance to the armies which broke the 
Creek nation. In the Seminole "War, he did nearly the 
whole of the effective work. General Jackson published 
the proclamations, outlined the campaign and "took the 
responsibility" for doing a number of aggressive, inde- 
fensible deeds, but Mcintosh fought the Indians. 

The United States, in recognition of the loyalty and 
value of Mcintosh, made him a Brigadier-General. He 
lived in a two-storied frame mansion on the Chattahoo- 
chee Eiver. He owned many slaves, large herds of cattle, 
and a large tract of fine land. Besides, he was on the 
payroll of the United States. 

Various considerations caused him to change his 
mind on the subject of selling tribal lands. Doubtless his 
intelligence made it clear to him that the whites were 
certain to drive the red men out. This being inevitable, 
he may have come to the conclusion that the easiest way 
was the best. To sell at a fair price, or to swap the Geor- 
gia territory for something just as good, were a better 
plan than to be exterminated by warfare, or to be forcibly 
transplanted. It is only just to Mcintosh to place one's 
self at what was, in all probability, his point of view. 

At a general meeting of the Creek chiefs, he boldly 
proposed that the tribes sell out and move away. The 
other chiefs were almost unanimously against him on 
this proposition, and they, in effect, not only howled him 
down, but, as we are told, "deposed" him. For fear that 
he would sign some treaty of cession, they said that he 
should no longer be a chief. But, as we shall see, he con- 
tinued to act as one; and the whites, who may not have 
known of his deposition, continued to regard him as 
head-man of the entire Creek confederation. His record, 
his military rank, his wealth and his superior intelligence 
all contributed to make this natural. 

Governor George M. Troup and General William 
Mcintosh were cousins. They admired each other greatly 
and were fast friends; their correspondence gives the 
reader a most favorable impression of both. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 317 

Now, it was Troup's inflexible purpose to get that 
Indian land. He had it on the brain. He was going after 
it, as Andrew Jackson went after the national bank. 
Nothing could turn him. He was intensely wrought up 
about it. The Federal Government had been deaf to 
every appeal; would not make any earnest, persistent 
effort to secure a cession from the red men, and would 
not pay any attention when Troup demanded that the 
treaty of 1802 be carried out, or that the United States 
return to the State of Georgia the unsold remnants of 
the Alabama and Mississippi land. 

In December, 1824, the Creek chiefs met in general 
council at Broken Arrow — the name of their capital. A 
cession of their lands was proposed, but voted down. 
Duncan G. Campbell, United States Commissioner, sug- 
gested to President Monroe that he could make a treaty 
with some of the chiefs. Mr. Monroe rejected the prop- 
osition, and directed that another general council of the 
whole Creek nation be convened. 

On February 7, 1825, the Indian Spring conference 
was held. Only eight out of the fifty-two towns sent dele- 
gates. The authorized speaker of the Creek nation, 
Ho-poth-le-yoholo, addressed the few Indians present, 
and declared that no cession of land could be made, 
announcing that the nation would hold another general 
council at the national capital. Broken Arrow, three 
months from that date. He formally invited the Indians 
present to attend the general council which the Creek 
nation had ordered. 

Having delivered this message, the speaker for the 
tribes, together with Big Warrior, the head-chief of the 
nation, and all the chiefs and warriors of the Cussetuhs 
and Soowoogaloos, left for home, that night. 

Tradition points to a venerable dwelling, at the 
Indian Spring, in which a carousal is said to have been 
held by the red men on the same night ; if Mcintosh took 
part in the ball, it was his last dance. 

It is perfectly clear that no cession of Creek land 
should have been urged or made, after the formal notice 
and withdrawal of the Big Warrior and the official 



318 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

spokesman of the Creek nation. But the Georgians were 
pressing, impatient and unscrupulous. Mcintosh had 
been detected in attempting to bribe certain Cherokee 
chiefs to sign a treaty, and there can be no reasonable 
doubt that money had some influence on him and the few 
obscure sub-chiefs who, on the day after the carousal, 
"touched the pen," while their marks were being made 
to the paper which conveyed away the tribal lands. 

When the tidings of what had been done at Indian 
Springs flew over the Creek nation, ungovernable rage 
took possession of the tribe. The national council when 
it convened at Broken Arrow formally denounced the 
treaty, and this protest reached Washington one day 
after President Monroe had signed the act of ratification ! 

The Indians determined to kill Mcintosh. Alarmed 
by rumors, he hurried to Milledgeville and asked Gov- 
ernor Troup for protection — for himself and the other 
treaty-making chieftains. The Governor not only 
promised it, but sent Henry G. Lamar into the Creek 
towns, to ascertain the state of feeling among the 
Indians, and to warn them sternly to keep the peace. 
The red men appear to have deceived Lamar completely. 
He returned to Milledgeville, and reported to Troup that 
no danger need be apprehended : the Indians were going 
to acquiesce in the treaty. 

Yes, but they were hell-bent on killing Mcintosh, 

The coolest, bravest warriors of the Creek nation 
were selected; at their head walked Manowa, an old 
fighter who had escaped from the death-trap at Horse- 
Shoe Bend. They followed, one behind the other, this 
grim and grizzled warrior, all through the forests and 
swamps which lay between the Tallapoosa and the Chat- 
tahoochee; they put by the temptation to bushwhack 
Mcintosh as he rode along the road; they waited in the 
woods, after coming near the doomed man's dwelling, 
until the darkness of night should fall ; they split up a lot 
of fat pine "lightwood," in order that the house might 
the more easily be fired in different places at the same 
time. These human tigers had the patient ferocity to 
wait until three hours after midnight — and then they 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 319 

sprang, with hideous yells and the outflaming passions 
of hell, upon the sleeping family in the traitor's home. 
Amid the roar of flames, amid volleys from their guns, 
the exultant wreakers of the nation's vengeance 
cried out: 

"Mcintosh, we have come, we have come! We told 
you, if you sold the lands to the Georgians, we would 
come ! ' ' 

Even under that awful test, the bravery of the half- 
breed showed no flaw. He seized his guns, barriraded 
his door, fired upon the warriors who forced it ; retreated 
to the upper story with four guns in his hands, continued 
to shoot from the window at the frenzied savages below ; 
returned to the lower story, was shot down, dragged out 
by the heels ; and, while still fronting them fiercely, with 
the undaunted eye of the wounded hawk, an Osfuskee 
brave struck a long knife into his heart. 

On this expedition, the Indians killed two other 
traitors to the nation and seized their cattle, etc., but did 
no harm to any other persons. There were one hundred 
and seventy of these executioners, and when they had 
carried out the sentence of the tribe, they returned to 
their homes — bearing the scalps of the three victims. 

Congress having ratified the treaty of the Indian 
Spring, Governor Troup immediately took possession of 
the land. Surveying parties began to run the boundaries, 
and new counties were laid off. The Indians protested ; 
the Federal Government interfered; a heated corres- 
pondence between Troup and the national authorities 
began; John Quincy Adams sent General Gaines down 
to the Indian Spring, and the threat of Federal coercion 
of the State was distinctly made. Troup rose to the 
occasion, superbly. He summoned the Legislature: sent 
in a ringing message stating the whole case, and con- 
cluded with the appeal: 

"I entreat you, therefore, most earnestly, now that it 
is an end of the argument, to stand by your arms." 

General Gaines having indulged in much vainglorious 
and impertinent speech and conduct, Governor Troup 
censured him severely, ceased to hold any communica- 



320 LIFE AND TIMES OF JAC'KSON. 

tion with him, and demanded of the President the arrest 
of the insolent officer. To President J. Q. Adams the 
•Governor wrote, and, among others, used this expression 
concerning Gaines: 

"Were I to send him to you in chains, I would trans- 
gress nothing of the public law." 

The Governor did not, as many historians relate, 
insult the President by threatening to "send your briga- 
dier by brevet home to you in irons." No; George M. 
Troup was a gentleman ; and this entire correspondence 
reveals the cultured man, the high-bred man, as well as 
the man who was indomitable in the pursuit of his object. 

When the President sent his message to Congress, 
broadly insinuating that he would use military force 
against the State of Georgia, Governor Troup took up 
the glove at once by officially ordering the militia to get 
ready to fight ! 

(Would to God we had governors of the same stamp 
in this day of national consolidation and State 
degradation!) 

Governor Troup was in no mood to listen to an acade- 
mic discussion of the moralities of the Indian question, 
from a President who hailed from the State which sold 
into slavery, and early death, the grandson of the noble 
old chief that had fed the Puritans in "the starving 
time." In the days of Governor Troup, the States did 
not have to obtain a permit from the judge of an inferior 
Federal court, before they could carry on the State 
administration. Mr. Adams was well aware of the fact 
that the country would not back him in the attempt to 
defend the Indians. Besides, he may have felt that the 
United States had not in good faith complied with the 
treaty of 1802. At all events, he backed down — snarling 
savagely as he did so. He even had the effrontery — he 
of New England ! — to rail at Georgia for getting so many 
favors from the Federal Government. 

Here, then, we recognize another cause for the rabid 
Iiatred which this able, intrepid and relentless man bore 
toward the South — a hatred that was to cost us dear. 




Major-General Andre-w Jackson 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 321 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

It is a historical fact, previous to the election of 
Andrew Jackson to the Presidency, the educated and 
proprietor classes had ruled the Republic, — the men of 
the schools and of the colleges were on top. The national 
administration was perhaps as pure as any that ever 
was known. The breath of scandal seldom blew against 
those who were at the helm. With the advent of Jack- 
son, and the throwing aside of the Congressional Caucus 
(in which the trained civilians of the highest class 
selected some experienced statesman for the Chief 
Executive), a change took place. We have already seen 
how this Congressional Caucus, committed to Crawford 
as it was, became an obstacle in the pathway of those 
who wished to be pulled up into place and power, by 
hanging onto the coat-tails of the tremendously popular 
military hero, and how they persistently, aggressively 
and unscrupulously undermined it, in a slanderous and 
systematic campaign. 

Beyond all comparison, the methods used in the elec- 
tion of Jackson were the worst that the country had ever 
known. The lowest passions were fanned into flames; 
class and sectional hatred were factors in the fight; 
venomous and utterly false statements were the weapons 
of the warfare ; and the triumph which Jackson won was 
really a triumph of passion and prejudice over reason 
and politic^il honesty. 

During the whole period of four years in which the 
storm raged, John Quincy Adams never veered an inch 
from the pathway of rigid impartiality, in the giving of 
patronage; nor from the highest standards of adminis- 
trative integrity. On the other hand, we find Senator 
Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, relating with great 
gusto, how the support that was necessary to Jackson's 
success was bought by legislative favors. For instance, 
the State of Ohio desired an appropriation of half a mil- 
lion acres of public land, in aid of the Scioto Canal. Ohio 



322 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

was not only a big State, but a doubtful one ; therefore, it 
was of the utmost importance that she be won to Old 
Hickory. Of course, the Adams men were after her, too. 
The friends of the two candidates rushed into Congress 
a bill which provided for the grant of the public lands 
which Ohio desired. The Jackson men were the quickest ; 
got in their bill first ; and secured priority of considera- 
tion for it in the Committee of the Whole, where it was 
agreed to. By some sort of strategy, however, the 
friends of Adams (their bill being a little later than that 
of the Jackson men,) got ahead of the other bill on the 
calendar. This was fatal to the other measure, it being 
impossible to expect that two grants of land for the same 
purpose could be passed at the same time. But, almost 
incredible to relate, the friends of Jackson actually fol- 
lowed the land-grant bill of the Adams men up to the 
Senate, and secured an amendment which, in effect, gave 
Ohio the full amount of land carried in both bills. In 
other words, this doubtful State got twice the amount of 
public land that she had originally desired. This result 
came about in a mere selfish and corrupt effort of the 
rival politicians to win the favor of Ohio and gain her 
electoral votes. Nothing worse than that happens now. 
In 1828 the number of electoral votes was two hun- 
dred and sixty-one. Of these. General Jackson received 
one hundred and seventy-eight, and Mr. Adams eighty- 
three. With the exception of one electoral district in 
Maine, John Quincy Adams carried New England solidly. 
Mr. Crawford's hatred of John C. Calhoun was shown in 
his ability to throw away seven of Georgia's electoral 
votes for Vice-President upon William Smith, of South 
Carolina. The entire vote of Georgia was given to Gen- 
eral Jackson, and this emphasized the slap at Calhoun. 
With the exception of that State, Mr. Calhoun received 
the vote of every district that his chief carried. In Ten- 
nessee, the ticket of Adams and Rush received less than 
three thousand votes. In many of the towns every vote 
was cast for the ticket of Jackson and Calhoun. 

A member of the North r'arolina Legislature related 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 323 

to James Parton an incident which he witnessed in a 
Tennessee village, on the afternoon of the day of the 
presidential election of 1828. He found the whole village 
chasing two men; and, upon inquiry, learned that the 
two men had to flee to the woods to escape being tarred 
and feathered by their thoroughly indignant, and some- 
what intoxicated fellow citizens. The crime which they 
had committed was, that they had voted against General 
Jackson. 

In other parts of Tennessee, however (especially in 
East Tennessee), there was very bitter feeling against 
Old Hickory; and one of the most savage pamphlets that 
was ever shot at him was boldly published, over the sig- 
nature of a man of considerable local prominence, John 
R. Nelson. In this pamphlet, Jackson's primitive way of 
securing a wife was described in the most offensive 
terms, — so offensive, indeed, that I do not care to repeat 
them. 

Good Aunt Rachel had not wished the General to 
enter politics, again. She believed that the afternoon of 
their life should be spent together, in peace, at the Her- 
mitage. Her soul was weary of the hot conflicts which 
General Jackson's appearance in public life always pre- 
cipitated. She was tired unto death of vituperation, 
rancor, feuds, factional fights, duels, and stabbings; she 
longed for nothing so much as for domestic repose and 
happiness. Besides, the faithful wife, who had been 
through so many tempests with her storm-petrel of a 
husband, was not in good health. For several years, she 
had complained of heart-trouble. Excitement, of course, 
aggravated this ailment. To have her name dragged 
into the public press and public debates was intensely 
disagreeable to her. She was often found bathed in 
tears. There can be no question that this presidential 
campaign, this awful torrent of abuse which beat upon 
the heads of herself and the General for four long years, 
shortened her life. 

When December, 1828, came, the cavalier of the pale 
horse was en route to the Hermitage. On that day. Aunt 



324 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Rachel was suddenly stricken down and, with what the 
negro servant, "Old Hannah," described as "a horrible 
shriek," the good woman placed her hands upon her 
heart, sank into a chair, and then fell forward into old 
Hannah's arms. She was placed upon her bed, messen- 
gers hurried away for assistance, the negro woman 
rubbed her side, but she writhed in agony, gasping for 
breath. The General came, on the run, in a state of 
pitiable alarm. After awhile the doctors arrived, and 
the house was filled with relatives, friends and servants. 
During the next two days her sufferings were excruciat- 
ing. The General never left her bedside for ten minutes 
at a time. Then, as the end approached, the pain went 
away; and she recovered speech, assured her husband 
that she was quite well, and begged him to go to another 
room and get some sleep. She reminded him that he 
would need all his strength for the great banquet that 
they were preparing for him at Nashville; and that he 
must not weaken himself with fasting and lack of rest. 
But the General mistrusted her sudden release from 
pain. To him, it seemed a bad symptom; and so it was. 
Saturday and Sunday passed with her lying on the bed, 
painlessly, but very weak and inert, while the General 
watched her, sleeplessly, devotedly. On Monday, her 
condition was about the same; and at length, at nine 
o'clock at night, the General did agree to go to the next 
room and lie down. He had not been gone more than 
five minutes when his wife, who had been removed from 
the bed in order that it might be made up, uttered a loud, 
prolonged, inarticulate scream, and fell forward upon 
the shoulders of the old negro woman. There was a 
rattling noise in her throat, and she was dead. The 
General rushed wildly into the room, and cried out, 
"Bleed her! bleed her!" They did so, but found that 
no blood would flow from her arm. "Try her temple, 
Doctor!" cried the General. Two drops crimsoned her 
white cap, but that was all. 

It must have been a heart-breaking spectacle to have 
seen that old man (who could, on occasion, be so savage, 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 325 

so unrelenting, so cruel, so irresponsive to all pleas for 
mercy,) stand there, misery personified, refusing to 
believe the evidence of his eyes, feeling her hands, feel- 
ing her feet, and ordering the servants with a broken 
voice, when they were preparing a table for laying her 
out, ' ' Spread four blankets on it : if she does come to, she 
would lie so hard on that bare table." 

All night long he sat in the room by her side, with 
his face in his hands, speechless with sorrow, now and 
then looking hard into her face, and feeling, now her 
heart, and then her wrist, hoping that the life-beat 
would be felt. 

The funeral scene you can imagine. The large crowd, 
the universal sorrow for the dead wife and sympathy 
for the surviving husband, the wailing of relatives and 
servants, the solemnness and lonesomeness that hung 
over the Hermitage like a pall, the General's own suffer- 
ing, the lowering of the coffin into the ground, the fall- 
ing of the clods covering her up, and that most awful of 
all depressions of collected humanity — the departure 
from a new-made grave: — every bit of this you can 
imagine so well that it need not be described. 



In Mrs. Trollope's "Domestic Manners of the Ameri- 
cans, ' ' we get a glimpse of President-elect Andrew Jack- 
son on his way to "Washington City to be inaugurated. 
It was at Cincinnati, and the General was expected, on 
his way, by steamer, to Pittsburg. Mrs. Trollope 
describes the approach of the boat, and she speaks of the 
splendor in which the escort steamers were decorated. 
* ' The roofs of all three were covered by a crowd of men ; 
cannon salutes were fired from the shore as they passed 
by, to the distance a quarter of a mile above the town; 
there they turned about, and came down the river with 
a rapid and stately motion, the three vessels so close 
together as to appear one mighty mass upon the water." 
She states that the crowd on the shore awaited Jack- 
son's arrival in perfect silence. When the boat reached 



326 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the bank, the people on board gave a faint hurrah, but it 
was not answered by any note of welcome from the land. 
She says, however, that "this cold silence was not pro- 
duced by any want of friendly feeling towards the new 
President;" for during the whole of the campaign he 
had been decidedly the most popular candidate at Cin- 
cinnati; and the cry of ''Jackson, forever!" she had 
been accustomed to hear. She related how the General 
had declined to ride to the hotel in the carriage which 
had been provided; and how he walked through the 
crowds, which parted as he stalked along. He made the 
impression upon this English lady that, in spite of his 
carelessly worn gray hair, his harsh, gaunt features, 
that he was "a gentleman and a soldier." 

Jackson was in deep mourning for his wife, and as 
he made his way through the crowd, Mrs. Trollope was 
very much pained to hear some one near her exclaim, 
as the President-elect approached the place where she 
stood, ''There goes Jackson, where is his wife!" 
Another sharp voice, at a little distance, cried out, 
"Adams, forever!" She states that these sotmds were 
all that she heard to break the silence. But she states 
that, "There was not a hulking boy from the keel-boat 
who was not introduced to the President, unless, indeed, 
as was the case with some, they introduced themselves." 
She says that, when she was at Jackson's elbow, "a 
greasy fellow" accosted him with these words: 
'General Jackson, I guess?' 

The General bowed assent. 

■ 'Why, they told me you was dead.' 

' 'No! Providence has hitherto preserved my life.' 
'And is your wife alive, too?' 

'The General was apparently much hurt, and told 
the man that his wife was dead. Upon which, this 
human brute completed his dialogue by saying: 

" 'Aye, I thought it was one or the 'tother of yer.' " 

The National Journal, published in Washington City, 

was considered the personal organ of President John 

Quincy Adams. During the campaign of 1S28, it had 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 327 

published infamous attacks upon the reputation of Aunt 
Rachel; and General Jackson believed that Mr. Adams 
was responsible for these assaults. There is no evidence 
that The National Journal was Adams' personal organ, 
but General Jackson was not in the habit of waiting for 
proofs. He had a habit of jumping at conclusions on 
very slight provocation, and after he had formed an 
opinion all creation couldn 't change it. Acting upon the 
assumption that his rival for the presidency had been a 
party to the slandering of Mrs. Jackson, the General 
refused to call upon the President, on his arrival in 
Washington in February, 1829. In consequence of this 
studied disrespect and breach of custom, Mr. Adams, in 
his turn, refused to accompany General Jackson on his 
way to the Capitol on the day of his inauguration. In 
fact, they did not meet at all. 

Innumerable throngs rushed into Washington City to 
see the inauguration. Such cheering, such enthusiasm, 
such admiration for the popular idol, had never been 
witnessed before. Mr. Webster said that, "persons 
have come five hundred miles to see General Jackson. 
They really seem to think that the country has been 
rescued from some terrible danger. I never saw such a 
crowd before." 

The oath was taken in the usual place, in the usual 
way; and General Jackson read his written address in a 
voice which very few heard. Then came the procession 
to the White House. Judge Story, who was an Adams 
man, declared that he never saw such a mixture of 
polished and unpolished people in his life. The washed 
and the unwashed were on a common plane of equality. 
The disgusted New England Judge declared that ''King 
Mob was triumphant;" and he said that he was glad to 
escape the scene as soon as he could. 

One of the letter-writers, describing the aftermath of 
the inauguration, said that ' ' a profusion of refreshments 
had been provided, — orange punch by barrels-ful was 
made, but as the waiters opened the doors to bring it out, 
a rush would be made, the glasses broken, the pails of 



328 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

liquor emptied, and the utmost confusion prevailed. 
To such a painful degree was this carried that the 
wine and ice creams could not be brought out to the 
ladies, and tubs of punch were taken from the lower 
story into the garden to' lead off the crowd from the 
rooms." There was no order at all. The crowd was too 
great; the bustle too strenuous. Men with heavy and 
muddy boots stood up on the chairs which were covered 
by damask satin. They did this in their eagerness to 
get a glimpse of the tall, sombre, idolized Jackson. 

Many of the books speak of an enormous Pennsyl- 
vania cheese, — a cheese that was so prodigious that it 
not only filled everybody who could eat cheese, but 
smeared itself over the carpets and the furniture. 
Somebody remarked to Jackson upon the good-natured 
riot which was wrecking things in the White House, and 
making the eminently respectable element of society 
utter expressions of horror. But the old General was 
used to rough scenes, and he merely remarked, ''0, let 
the people have a good time; they only get it once in a 
while. ' ' 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 329 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Blaise Paschal remarks that, "If the nose of Cleo- 
patra had been shorter, the whole face of the earth 
would have been changed." Be that as it may, there is 
no doubt whatever that if the proboscis of Peggy 'Neal 
had been two inches longer, the history of this country 
would be different. 

Of the mother of this celebrated woman, nothing is 
known ; her father kept a boarding-house in Washington 
City ; and Peggy grew up among the Congressmen, army 
and navy officers, and departmental clerks who patron- 
ized the O'Neal tavern. Without being pretty, she was 
piquant, witty, bewitching. Full of animal spirits, she 
enjoyed life in her own way, and her way happened to 
be very much more attractive to men than to women. 
Indeed, the knowing ones among Peggy's feminine 
acquaintances shook their heads, and predicted amiably 
that she would come to a bad end,— meaning, of course,, 
that they hoped she would. 

But the little Irish maiden, with all of her fun and 
frolic, her pert talk and romping manners, steered her- 
self into a good marriage ; thereby, no doubt, intensify- 
ing the envy and the dislike of sundry seeresses of evil. 
Timberlake, Peggy's husband, was a purser in the navy, 
and his duties kept him at sea most of the time. Appar- 
ently, this didn't bother his sprightly wife in the least. 
She had the gayest kind of a time among the young men 
who boarded at the house — so much so that she got her 
name on the social blacklist. W^hether vicious persons 
wrote to Timberlake on the subject, is not known, but for 
some cause he committed suicide while his ship was in 
the Mediterranean. 

One of the men with whom Peggy had been behaving 
most freely, and whose name was connected with hers in 
chronicles scandalous, was Senator John Eaton, of Ten- 
nessee. He soon married the young widow, although he 
knew that Washington society had shut the door in her 

22 a j 



330 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

face. Eaton had long been Andrew Jackson's warm 
personal friend, had been to the wars with him, had 
helped to pull the strings which elevated the General to 
the White House, and had written the biography of his 
Chief. By taking Peggy O'Neal to wife, Major Eaton 
made a social crisis inevitable, for he was taken into 
Jackson's Cabinet, and of course he expected that Peggy 
would be received in official circles. 

John C. Calhoun had been slated for the Presidential 
succession. As the running-mate of Jackson, he had 
been overwhelmingly elected Vice-President in 1824, 
when his Chief was beaten. In like manner, he had been 
elected Vice-President when Adams was defeated. He 
was nearing the summit of political success, and had 
every reason to believe that he would be President in 
two more years, for Jackson had publicly pledged him- 
self not to accept a second term. But Martin Van Buren, 
"The Fox of Kinderhook," was bent on succeeding 
Jackson. He now began to scheme, subtly and tirelessly, 
to bring about a collision between Jackson and Calhoun. 

When Jackson had been Senator, he had boarded at 
the O'Neal tavern. Both he and Aunt Rachel grew to 
be fond of the cheerful, winsome Peggy. Liking the girl, 
Jackson could see no fault in her. That was his way. 
He could not detect any blemish even in such a black- 
sheep as Henry Lee. He stoutly stood by Swartout, 
the rascal who was conniving at wholesale thefts at the 
New York Custom House. As to Peggy O'Neal, the old 
General swore by the Eternal that she was as chaste as 
an angel — which was quite a doubtful compliment to the 
angel. Nobody could turn him, the least bit: he was 
Peggy's champion, ready to battle and perish in her 
sacred cause. On this subject, he wouldn't even listen to 
the preachers, although, as a rule, he was most partial 
to preachers. In fact, his own Washington pastor took 
him in hand in the matter of Peggy's true character, and 
the old hero stormed at the devoted clergyman, and 
browbeat him at such a dreadful rate, that his honored 
and beloved pastor had to flee the field. Whenever 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 331 

Peggy's name was mentioned, the General sprung his 
rattles, and was ready to strike. 

Now, this situation was like a blessing from on high 
to Martin Van Bnren. He knew General Jackson like a 
book, was as slippery as a greased Indian, as supple as 
a Hindoo acrobat, a courtier by nature, and utterly 
untrammelled by anything in the way of convictions. In 
his own day, he was known as the Talleyrand of Ameri- 
can politics. Daniel Webster used to convulse audiences 
by pantomimic illustrations of the fox-like tread of 
''Little Van" — whose principles were said to consist of 
''five loaves and two fishes." 

Martin was a widower, and hence his advantage over 
the other members of the Jackson Cabinet. He made a 
specialty of cultivating the acquaintance of the perse- 
cuted Peggy, and gave entertainments in her honor. 
Jackson was delighted, charmed, enraptured. His whole 
soul went forth to the diplomatic Martin. The flattery 
was so subtle, so fascinating, that the single-minded old 
warrior never once suspected the motive. Believing 
that Van Buren was as honest in his friendship to Peggy 
as he himself was, Jackson began to regard the wily New 
Yorker as a man after his own heart. 

But how about the other members of the Cabinet? 
These statesmen had wives, and the ladies would brook 
no' Jacksonian interference with social laws. They flatly 
refused to receive Mrs. Peggy Eaton. Jackson's own 
niece declined to associate with her. Mrs. Donelson was 
packed off to Tennessee, the whole Cabinet resigned, 
(excepting Barry, the Postmaster-General,) the doom 
of Calhoun was sealed, and the current of national 
history turned from its natural course. 

Old Hickory, for once in his life, had tried persua- 
sion. He wrote Calhoun a note urging him to take the 
part of persecuted Peggy, but Calhoun was as unbending 
a man as his Chief, and he courteously declined to take 
any hand in the row. In effect, he said, "Let the women 
settle it. They have their own laws, and nobody can 
change them." Jackson then got Eichard M. Johnson 



332 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

(afterwards Vice-President,) to intercede with the 
refractory members of the Cabinet, but they were 
immovable. The sly Van Buren thought it was a good 
time for him to step down and out, and his letter of 
resignation, as Secretary of State, is one of the curiosi- 
ties of political literature. Jackson puzzled over it, and 
finally said, "I can't make heads or tails of it, and I 
don't believe that Van Buren himself can." 

Major Eaton was so disgusted and irritated by the 
treatment accorded his wife, that he resigned, also, and 
then Jackson made a clean sweep of the others. 

In Colonel Colyar's ''Life of Jackson," the effort is 
made to prove that the quarrel over Peggy O'Neal did 
not cause these Cabinet changes. Buell claims that 
Colyar made out his case. But how can he, when there 
is on record the unchallenged letter of John McPherson 
Berrien, of Georgia, one of the retiring members of the 
Cabinet? This gentleman was wholly incapable of false- 
hood, and had his statement been untrue, Jackson him- 
self would have rushed into print to combat it. Mr. 
Berrien says in his letter, given to the public then, that 
they (the Calhoun men,) had been forced out of the 
Cabinet because their wives would not consent to receive 
Mrs. Eaton. 

(There is a contemporaneous letter from Daniel 
Webster to the same effect.) 

The refusal of Mrs. Calhoun to recognize Peggy 
O'Neal as her social equal, kindled the furious, implac- 
able resentment of President Jackson, caused him to 
seek a cause for quarrel with the Vice-President, drove 
that illustrious leader into a hopeless opposition, 
brought about a change of mind in Jackson on the tariff 
question; threw the iron-willed President to the side of 
Clay and Webster, and laid the foundations for the 
bitter dissensions which evolved the Civil War. 

Jackson practically abolished the Cabinet, and was 
controlled exclusively by men of the back-stairs, the 
famous "Kitchen Cabinet," composed of Amos Kendall, 
William B. Lewis, Isaac Hill, and Francis P. Blair, who 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 333 

succeeded Duff Green when that doughty fighter 
announced his adherence to Calhoun. 

In all of the biographies you will read the statement 
that Andrew Jackson never forgave any man who had 
besmirched the name of Aunt Rachel. I am sorry to tell 
you that the statement is untrue. Amos Kendall had 
been a rampant supporter of Henry Clay. As such, he 
had written and published scurrilities against Andrew 
Jackson and Aunt Rachel. But politics, which makes 
strange bed-fellows, brought Amos and Andrew to the 
same couch, and Amos was for for many years the power 
behind the throne of Andrew Jackson. 

The fateful feud which sprang up so suddenly and 
unexpectedly between Jackson and Calhoun was of such 
tremendous consequence, that I am justified in giving 
you in full the Calhoun side of it. 

James Parton, in his ''Life of Jackson," states that 
Mrs. Calhoun would not receive Mrs. Eaton, "although 
she had called upon the lady soon after her marriage in 
company with the Vice-President, her husband." This 
statement is specifically denied in the very letter, (pub- 
lished at the time,) in which Mr. Calhoun replied to 
General Eaton's public statement that Calhoun was 
"responsible for the persecutions of Mrs. Eaton." 

It was General Eaton and Peggy who called on the 
Calhouns, in the absence of John C, and they were civilly 
treated by Mrs. Calhoun, who did not, however, return 
the call. 

Mr. Calhoun's reply to the charges of General Eatoti 
is as follows : 

"When he [Gen. E.] and Mrs. Baton made their visit I was not 
at home, as he states, and did not return until after they had re- 
tired. When I returned Mrs. Calhoun mentioned that they had been 
there, and said she would not have known who Mrs. Eaton was, had 
she not been with Mr. Eaton, as the servant had not announced 
their names. She, of course, treated her with civility. She could 
not with propriety do otherwise. The relation which Mrs. Eaton 
bore to the society of Washington became the subject of some gen- 
eral remarks. The next morning she informed me that she had 
made up her mind not to return the visit. She said that she consid- 
ered herself in the light of a stranger in the place — that she knew 
nothing of Mrs. Eaton, or the truth or falsehood of the imputations 



334 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

on her character, and that she conceived it to be the duty of Mrs. 
Eaton, if innocent, to open her intercourse with the ladies who 
resided in the place, and who had the best means of forming a cor- 
rect opinion of her conduct, and not with those who, lilve herself, 
had no means of forming a correct judgment. I replied that I ap- 
proved of her decision, though I foresaw the difficulties in which it 
would probably involve me; but that I viewed the question involved 
as paramount to all political considerations, and was prepared to 
meet the consequences as to myself, be they what they might. 

"So far from political motives having any influence in the course 
adopted, could they have been permitted to have any weight in the 
question, the very reverse course would have been pursued. The 
road to patronage and favor lay directly before me, could I have 
been base enough to tread it. The intimate relation between Gen- 
eral Jackson and Major Baton was well known, as well as the in- 
terest the former took in Mrs. Eaton's case, but as degraded as I 
would have felt myself, had I sought power in that direction, I would 
not have considered the infamy less, had we adopted the course we 
did from any other motive than a high and sacred regard to duty. 
It was not, in fact, a question of exclusion of one already admitted 
into society, but the admission of one already excluded. Before the 
marriage, while she was Mrs. Timberlake, she had not been admitted 
into the society of Washington; and the real question was, whether 
her marriage with Major Eaton should open the door already closed 
upon her, or, in other words, -"vhether official rank and patronage 
should, or should not, prove paramount to that censorship which the 
sex exercises over itself, and on which all must acknowledge the 
purity and dignity of the female character mainly depends." 

In the old Southern Review, I find the following :--- 

"We recollect many years ago, and not many before his death, 
having heard an account of this affair from Mr. Calhoun's own lips. 
There were a few friends present, and the conversation had turned 
upon General Jackson, his character, its impress on the times, and 
tlie mighty results which he had been the instrument in bringing 
about. In such connection it was natural that the Eaton affair 
should be mentioned. Mr. Calhoun said: 'The matter had been 
discussed between Mrs. Calhoun and myself, but without coming to 
any positive conclusion. I had gone to my study, and was writing, 
when she came in without a word of introduction. She said: "Mr. 
Calhoun, I have determined not to return Mrs. Eaton's visit." ! 
have heard that a drowning man will sometimes see, at a glance, his 
whole past life, and, at these words, it seemed as though the future 
was shown me in as sudden and as vivid a manner. The rupture 
with General Jackson; the Administration changing from a Free 
Trade policy to that of Protection; the failure to adjust the Tariff 
difficulties; Executive patronage brought to bear upon the States' 
Right leaders; personal property influencing the masses; certain 
Nullification by South Carolina, and almost certain attempt at co- 
ercion by the Federal Government — this was the panorama which 
passed like a flash before my eyes. I was roused from my partial 
reverie by Mrs. Calhoun saying again, and with emphasis, "I have 
determined, Mr. Calhoun, not to return Mrs. Eaton's visit." 1 then 
said that she misunderstood my silence, and said simply: "That is 
a question about which women should feel, not think. Their in- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 335 

stincts are the safest guides. I entirely concur with you in your 
decision." ' Of course we only quote from memory, and, while the 
published statement gives the reason which influenced Mr. Calhoun's 
action as Vice-President, we have thought the anecdote might not 
be without interest, as affording a glimpse of the private feelings of 
the man and of the woman. 

"The vindictive bitterness and unforgiving hate felt towards Mr. 
Calhoun for this act of manly independence can, at this day, be 
realized only by considering his then social and political position. 
His decision as to Mrs. Eaton's status was conclusive. Hence the 
experiment was first made on him, and it was made with every hope 
of success. His relations with General Jackson were then, and had 
been for years, of the most intimate and friendly character. For 
this reason it was supposed he would be inclined to yield. Then, the 
country, as will be seen further on, was terribly convulsed, and upon 
the very verge of revolution. The position which General Jackson 
should assume relative to the great issue then pending, it was gen- 
erally admitted, would decide the fate of the country for weal or for 
woe. He was as yet, if not halting between two opinions, at least 
not openly committed. The wonderful influence which Mrs. Eaton 
had over him was well known. Married to a Cabinet Minister, she 
was determined not to be excluded from the houses of his colleagues. 
If friendship, or personal ambition, could not influence Mr. Calhoun, 
might not love of country do so? If his personal relations with 
General Jackson were uninterrupted, the Administration would be 
under his control. General Jackson once secured, his personal pop- 
ularity and iron will, backed by the (even then) powerful patron- 
age of the Government, would give easy and quick victory to the 
Republican party over their enemies, and the enemies of the Consti- 
tution. Could General Jackson be induced only to avow publicly 
the principles of the party to which he had always professed to 
belong, and announce his determination to act upon them, pros- 
perity would be secured to the South, and peace to the whole coun- 
try. The Executive standing squarely on the Jeffersonian doctrine 
of '98 and '99, consolidationism must yield or die. Georgia, in 1827, 
had asserted the right of State interpretation, and had denounced a 
tariff for protection as unconstitutional. South Carolina, in Decem- 
ber, 182 8, had concurred in these views, and published the 'exposi- 
tion.' Alabama, in 1828, and again in 1829, avowed the same doc- 
trine. Virginia, through her Legislature, by a vote of 134 to 68, had 
reaffirmed her Resolutions of '98 and '99. Should even one of these 
States nullify the Act of 1828, known over the whole South as the 
'Bill of Abominations,' and the President declare that he had no 
power to enforce it, the wheels of the Government must stand still 
or the bill be repealed, and a constitutional ac<" passed for the legiti- 
mate purposes of revenue." 

On August 16, 1818, William H. Crawford, and his 
bosom friend, Hon. Thomas C*obb, spent the nip:ht with 
Fleming Grantland, in Milledgeville, Georgia. Mr. 
Grantland was the editor of The Georgia Journal. Nine 
days later, there appeared in this newspaper an editorial 
in which it was stated, that the Monroe Cabinet had been 
equally divided on the question of arresting General 



336 LIFE AND TIMES OF JA( KSON. 

Jackson, because of his lawless conduct during the 
Seminole campaign. (This is the very first reference to 
the matter that I have been able to trace. It was found 
in a very scarce, out-of-print volume, which Captain 
James Barrett, of Augusta, Georgia, was kind enough 
to procure for me.) 

The inference that Editor Grantland got his infor- 
mation from William H. Crawford is unavoidable. 
Crawford was a member of Monroe's Cabinet during the 
Seminole campaign. He spent the night at Grantland 's 
house a few days before the official secret appeared in 
Grantland 's paper. No other member of Monroe's 
Cabinet had talked with the editor on that subject. In 
the abandon of private conversation, the guest had ' ' told 
tales out of school." And I must say that there is a sug- 
gestion of political calculation in Crawford's conduct, for 
Grantland, a gentleman of the highest character, would 
not have made editorial use of the Crawford statement 
if there had been no understanding to that effect. The 
editorial was an attack on Jackson, apparently inspired 
by Crawford. 

Now, John Forsyth, of Georgia, was a very able man, 
and one of the best of political manipulators : his hatred 
of John C. Calhoun was consuming. It is highly probable 
that he read the editorial in the Milledgeville paper. 
(That city was then the capital of Georgia, and the 
Journal an influential sheet.) The circumstances indi- 
cate that he did read the Crawford statement, either in 
the Journal, or in some other periodical. However, 
there is no evidence to show that there was any effort 
made that time to identify those Cabinet officers who 
favored Jackson's arrest. Years passed, Crawford was 
paralyzed, and went into retirement, filled with a raging 
detestation of Calhoun. 

Then came Martin Van Buren, eagerly hunting for 
something that would embitter Andrew Jackson against 
John C. Calhoun. The refusal of the Southern lady, the 
Vice-President's wife, to recall Peggy O'Neal from 
: social banishment had enraged Eaton and Jackson, but 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 337 

the old General could not afford to pick a quarrel with 
Mr. Calhoun about that. His own niece agreed with 
Mrs. Calhoun, and imitated her example. Besides, on 
such an issue, the whole country would probably decide 
that the ladies had a right to choose their own associates. 

So Jackson bided his time. With all of his fierceness 
of temper was intermingled a fine discretion. 

All at once, a rumor began to circulate — a rumor that 
William H. Crawford had written a letter to John For- 
syth in which the statement was made that Calhoun had 
been in favor of Jackson's arrest during the Seminole 
War. Significantly enough, that rumor reached Jackson 
through the son of Alexander Hamilton, confidential 
friend of Martin Van Buren. 

And even more significant is the fact that the rumor 
never arose until after Van Buren had gone down to 
Georgia, and spent a night at Crawford's house. 

The old General immediately wrote Calhoun a curt, 
offensive letter demanding to know whether Crawford's 
statement was true. Admirers of Calhoun would be 
most happy to relate that the Vice-President stood upon 
his dignity, and declined to discuss the matter. It was a 
Cabinet secret, and Jackson had no right to require its 
revelation. But it is vastly more easy for you and I to 
see what course Calhoun should have pursued, than it 
was for him when that terrible crisis came upon him. 
He might have known that nothing he could say would 
appease Jackson. He had condemned the lawlessness of 
certain Jacksonian doings, and he had been quite right 
in it. Nobody but a Jesuitical J. Q. Adams could justify 
those proceedings. Instead of a manly defiance of the 
irreconciliable President, Mr. Calhoun had the weakness 
to answer him in a prodigiously long letter, which 
utterly failed of its purpose. He could do some hurt to 
the fame of Crawford, but it was not in his power to 
pacify the vengeful champion of Peggj^ O'Neal; When 
Mr. Calhoun had the further bad judgment to write, a 
second time, Jackson virtually told him that he did not 
care to hear another word from him. 



338 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The rupture was complete, tina] and, to Calhoun's 
presidential aspirations, fatal And the strangest thing 
about it all is, that Calhoun proved by overwhelming 
evidence that Jackson had known, in 1818, that Calhoun 
disapproved of some of his conduct in the Seminole War. 
Like the queer movements made by the Jacksonian man- 
agers in the matter of the Rhea letter, there is something 
in the episode that never has come to light. With two 
such unscrupulous manipulators as Amos Kendall and 
Martin Van Buren, concealment of tracks was a fine art. 

One of the curious features of the episode was that 
Calhoun at first believed that he had laid Jackson out, 
and that he himself had come off triumphant. 

His letter to Hon. James H. Hammond is worth 
quotation. 

"TO JAMES H. HAMMOND. 

"Washington 16th Feb 1831 

"Dear Sir, the mail, that takes this, will bring you a copy of the 
Correspondence with Gen. Jackson. It will speak for itself. Gen. 
Jackson has certainly involved himself in great difficulty in this 
affair. He has, to say the least, been sadly duped; yet, I think, the 
proper course, at least at first, is to say little about him. Let the 
press direct the publick indignation against the contriver of this 
profligate intrigue. Who is the prime mover belongs rather to the 
publick, than to me. to say. One thing, however, is remarkable, that 
every individual connected with it, is the correspondent and friend 
of a certain prominent individual, who made a visit to Georgia in 
1827. The origin dates certainly from about that period, as you will 
see by Mr. Crawford's letter to Mr. Balch of Nashville. The affair, 
I hope, may open the eyes of Gen. Jackson. It is most unfortunate 
for him and the country, that he has so greatly misplaced his confi- 
dence. Unless he should withdraw it, and that speedily, it is hard 
to anticipate the result. Universal discontent, distraction, and cor- 
ruption seem to be taking possession of the country. 

"I write in great haste, and you must understand, what I have 
said, as being for your inspection only. 

(Signed) "JNO. C. CALHOUN." 

(The "prominent individual" alluded to was Van 
Buren.) 

The following letter is even more remarkable : 

"TO SAMUEL L. GOUVERNEUR. 

"Fort Hill 22d May 1835 
"My dear Sir, I have just heard from a respectable source, that 
a book is now writing at Washington under the auspices of Genl. 



LIFE AND TIMi^lS OF JACKSON. 339 

Jackson and to be published when he retires, on the subject of the 
Seminole affair; in which an attack will be made both on Mr. Mon- 
roe's character and my own, and in which the affidavit of John Rhea 
is to form a prominent part. I deem it important to apprise you of 
the fact, that it is believed at Washington, that such a work is in 
progress. 

"I had no doubt that any effort, that baseness and ingenuity can 
devise will be resorted to induce you, by them, who believe that all 
are venial and base like themselves, to abandon the defense of Mr. 
Monroe, but I feel perfectly confident without the slightest effect. 
General Jackson feels deeply mortified with the situation he occu- 
pies in relation to the affair; and is determined that nothing shall 
be omitted to reverse it if possible in the eyes of posterity. As to 
myself individually 1 certainly can have no objection that he should 
renew his attack on me in relation to it. He has heretofore gained 
nothing by his attacks, and I shall take care, if he should renew it, 
not to let him off as easily as I have in the correspondence. 

"!' would be glad to hear from you, and to learn, whether you 
have any information as to the supposed contemplated publication, 
and in particular who is to be the author. 

"Mrs. C. joins her best respects to yourself and Mrs. G." 

The book to which Calhoun refers was actually under 
way, but a death-bed statement made by James Monroe 
caused the Jackson men to halt. The dying ex-President 
most positively and solemnly donied the truth of the 
material allegations made in the Rhea affidavit. 

We are told that after the return of the Donelsons to 
Tennessee, Peggy O'Neal acted on State occasions as 
First Lady of the land. She arranged the details of the 
entertainments, and presided over them. There came 
near being an international rumpus because of the con- 
duct of the wife of the Dutch minister, who rose indig- 
nantly and sailed out of the White House, when she saw 
that fascinating Peggy was in command. 

She was a plucky little woman, was Margaret 'Neal, 
and one can not repress his admiration of her gallantry 
in battling with those ''stuck-up" Washington ladies. 
Really there never was a scrap of trustworthy evidence 
brought against her. General Jackson himself chal- 
lenged her accusers to a show-down; and they com- 
pletely failed in the attempts to produce testimony. 

As she grew older, Mrs. Eaton became more sedate, 
and she enjoyed all the "society" that she desired. She 
survived to the year 1879, when she died in Washington. 



340 LIFE AND TIMiCS OF JACKSON. 

Her husband became estranged from his old Chief and 
was his bitter enemy. 

I find the following in the defunct Southern Review : 

"After General Jackson had retired from public life, and the 
places which had known him knew him no longer, the more respect- 
able of his adherents began very unmistakably to show Mrs. Eaton 
the cold shoulder. She was not one to be very easily put down, and, 
where the force was too great to resist, she never submitted with 
patience, nor failed to pay back all acts of unkindness, and usually 
with interest. Mrs. Polk, when presiding at the White House, found 
her acquaintance not desirable, and took no pains to conceal her 
Impressions. Mrs. Eaton was not long in discovering this, and acted 
promptly. Not knowing when she might be actually excluded, she 
seized upon the first opportunity of a gathering of the great ones of 
the land at the Presidential mansion, and presented herself. For- 
tune favors the brave, and it favored her on this occasion. Mrs. 
Polk was seated when she entered, and by her side sat the wife of a 
foreign ambassador, who was herself, however, an American. Mrs. 
Eaton approached, nodded with a pleasant and familiar smile, and 
took a vacant seat which happened to be next them. They were 
surrounded by ambassadors, senators, judges, and members of the 
Cabinet, and became immediately so engaged in conversation as ap- 
parently not to observe .the new comer. Peggy bided her time, and, 
taking advantage of the first pause, said in a very distinct voice, and 
with a manner that attracted instant attention, "Good morning, Mrs. 
Polk, you did not see me; no matter, in such a charming circle I 

don't wonder at it. And you, too, Madame ; how very well 

you are both looking. By the way, what a funny country this is! 
Only think that we three daughters of tavern-keepers should be 
sitting together here in the While House, and receiving the atten- 
tions of the most distinguished of our own countrymen and of the 
representatives of the crowned heads of Europe! Why, how em- 
barrassed you both look! I don't mind it a bit. Your father, you 

know, Madame , kept a tavern in Cincinnati, and yours, 

Mrs. Polk, in Tennessee, and mine — well, mine did not exactly keep 
a tavern, it was a private boarding-house for members of Congress, 
but for the sake of the unities, we'll call it a tavern. And to think 
how oddly it has all turned out. You, Madame — married a foreign 
minister, and you, Mrs. Polk, are the wife of the President, and my 
husband was a member of the Cabinet, and foreign minister; and 
here we all are together in the White House. Funny country, isn't 

it! Good morning, Mrs. Polk; good-morning, Madame ; I 

will see you both again soon.' 

And so having brought her guns quickly into battery, and 
delivered her fire, she limbered up and retired before the enemy 
could reply. The effect can be more easily imagined than 
described. So parted Peggy with her two friends, who did not 
approve of her." 

Buell preserves this little anecdote, which throws a 
sidelight on Jackson's admiration for Peggy O'Neal: 
*'A favorite boast of Jackson's was that his feet 'had 
never pressed foreign soil;' that, 'born and raised in the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 341 

United States, lie had never been out of the country.' 
It is recorded that he one day made this exultant obser- 
vation in the presence of Mrs. Eaton, whose Irish wit 
prompted her to inquire, 'But how about Florida, 
General r 

'' 'That's so. I did go to Florida when it was a 
foreign country, but I had quite forgotten that fact when 
I made the remark.' 

'' 'I expect, (ieneral, you forgot that Florida was 
foreign when you made the tripT 

''The General was put hors de combat for a moment, 
but soon rallied. 'Yes, yes, may be so. Some weak- 
kneed people in our own country seemed to think so.' 

" 'Oh, well, General, never mind. Florida didn't 
stay foreign long after you had been there!' 

"This was one of his favorite anecdotes for the rest 
of his life. Whenever he related it, he would add: 
'Smartest little woman in America, sir; by all odds, the 
smartest!' " 

ANECDOTES OF THE PERIOD. 
Henky Clay as a Gentleman's Gambler. 
"Whist was regularly played at many of the 'Con- 
gressional messes,' and at private parties a room was 
always devoted to whist-playing. Once when the wife of 
Henry Clay was chaperoning a young lady from Boston, 
at a party given by one of his associates in the Cabinet, 
they passed through the card-room, where Mr. Clay and 
other gentlemen were playing whist. The young lady, 
in her Puritan simplicity, inquired: "Is card-playing a 
common practice here?' 'Yes,' replied Mrs. Clay, 'the 
gentlemen always play when they get together.' 'Don't 
it distress you,' said the Boston maiden, 'to have Mr. 
Clay gambler 'Oh! dear, no!' composedly replied the 
statesman's wife, 'he most always wins.' '^ 

The Surly Temper of J. Q. Adams. 
"Senator Tazewell, Mr. Randolph's colleague, was 
a first-class Virginia abstractionist and an avowed hater 



342 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

of New England. Dining one day at the White House, 
he provoked the President by offensively asserting that 
he had 'never known a Unitarian who did not believe in 
the sea-serpent.' Soon afterward Mr. Tazewell spoke 
of the different kinds of wines, and declared that Tokay 
and Rhenish wine were alike in taste. "Sir,' said Mr. 
Adams, 'I do not believe you ever drank a drop of Tokay 
in all your life.' For this remark the President subse- 
quently sent an apology to Mr. Tazewell, but the Vir- 
ginia Senator never forgot or forgave the remark." 

Daniel Webster Takes Too Much Wine. 

"An amusing account has been given of an after- 
dinner speech by Mr. Webster at a gathering of his 
political friends, when he had to be prompted by a friend 
who sat just behind him, and gave him successively 
phrases and topics. The speech proceeded somewhat 
after this fashion : Prompter: 'Tariff.' Webster: 'The 
tariff, gentlemen, is a subject requiring the profound 
attention of the statesman. American industry, gentle- 
men, must be — ' (nods a little). Prompter: 'National 
Debt.' Webster: 'And, gentlemen, there's the national 
debt — it should be paid' (loud cheers, which rouse the 
speaker) ; 'yes, gentlemen, it should be paid (cheers), 
and I'll be hanged if it shan't be' — taking out his 
pocketbook) — 'I'll pay it mj^self ! How much is itf This 
last question was asked of a gentleman near him with 
drunken seriousness, and, coupled with the recollection 
of the well-known impecuniosity of Webster's pocket- 
book it excited roars of laughter, amidst which the orator 
sank into his seat and was soon asleep." 

Charity-Brokers Defied by Andrew Jackson. 

' ' General Jackson turned a deaf ear to the numerous 
applications made to him for charity. At one time when 
he was President a large number of Irish immigrants 
were at work on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 
Georgetown, and, the weather being very hot, many of 
them were prostrated by sunstroke and bilious diseases. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 343 

They were without medical aid, the necessities of life, or 
any shelter except the shanties in which they were 
crowded. Their deplorable condition led to the forma- 
tion of a society of Irish- Americans, with the venerable 
Mr. McLeod, a noted instructor, as president. A com- 
mittee from this Society waited on the President for 
aid. Mr. McLeod made known the object of their visit. 
General Jackson interrupted him by saying that he 
'entirely disapproved of the Society; that the fact of its 
existence would induce these fellows to come one hun- 
dred miles to get the benefit of it ; that if the Treasury of 
the United States were at his disposal it could not meet 
the demands that were daily made upon him, and he 
would not be driven from the White House a beggar- 
man, like old Jim Monroe.' " 

The Indian Chief. 

''The then recently completed rotunda of the Capitol 
— Mr. Gales took pains to have it called rotunda in the 
National Intelligencer — was a hall of elegant propor- 
tions, ninety-six feet in diameter and ninety-six feet in 
height to the apex of its semicircular dome. It had been 
decorated with remarkable historical bas-reliefs by Cap- 
pellano, Gevelot, and Causici, three Italian artists — two 
of them pupils of Canova. They undoubtedly possessed 
artistic ability and they doubtless desired to produce 
works of historical value. But they failed ignominiously. 
Their respective productions were thus interpreted by 
Grizzly Bear, a Menominee chief. Turning to the 
eastern doorway, over which there is represented the 
landing of the Pilgrims, he said: 'There Ingen give 
hungry white man corn.' Then, turning to the northern 
doorway, over which is represented William Penn 
making a treaty with the Indians, he said : ' There Ingen 
give white man land. ' Then turning to the western door- 
way, over which is represented Pocahontas saving the 
life of Captain Smith, he said : ' There Ingen save white 
man's life.' And then turning to the southern doorway, 
oVer which is represented Daniel Boone, the pioneer, 



344 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

plunging his hunting-knife into the heart of a red man, 
while his foot rests on the dead body of another, he said : 
'And there white man kill Ingen. Ugh!' " 

Adams and Jackson. 

''That evening President Monroe gave a public 
reception at the White House, which had just been 
rebuilt, after having been burned by the British army — 
in 1814. The two candidates, Mr. Adams, the elect, and 
General Jackson, the defeated, accidentally met in the 
East Eoom. General Jackson, who was escorting a lady, 
promptly extended his hand, saying pleasantly: 'How do 
you do, Mr. Adams! I give you my left hand, for the 
right, as you see, is devoted to the fair. I hope you are 
very well, sir.' All this was gallantly and heartily said 
and done. Mr. Adams took the General's hand, and said, 
with chilling coldness: 'Very well, sir; I hope General 
Jackson is well!' The military hero was genial and 
gracious, while the unamiable diplomat was as cold as an 
iceberg. ' ' 

(But Adams acted as he felt, while Jackson concealed 
his raging hatred with geniality and graciosity.) 

These anecdotes are taken from the Ben Perley 
Poore's "Reminiscences." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 345 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Has it ever occurred to you that among the causes of 
the terrible inequalities of wealth in this country, the 
manufacturing system is twin-brother to our money 
system? Think it over. 

In the first place, the United States Statistical 
Abstract reveals the appalling fact that the compara- 
tively few men engaged in that branch of industry 
absorb one-half of the annual increase of wealth. On the 
capital invested they cleared, in the year 1900, the sum 
of $2,000,000, over and above eight per cent, net profits. 
One combination of manufacturers, the United States 
Steel Corporation, clears a hundred million dollars a 
year — more than the entire agricultural class has ever 
cleared in any year. 

These manufacturers have leagued themselves 
together in the various Trusts, and the consumer finds 
himself held up in the purchase of every commodity. 
The great mass of the unorganized farmers accept the 
Trust price when they sell, and pay the Trust price 
when they buy. The common people fix the price of 
nothing. Consequently, there is left to the working class 
and to the agricultural class a bare living. The million- 
aire corporation of a few years ago, is the billionaire 
Trust of today. All the histories and all the statesmen 
agree that, during the first half-century of our national 
existence, we had no poor. A pauper class was unthought 
of: a beggar, or a tramp never seen. 

At the present time, our destitute are numbered by 
the millions, beggars swarm in the big cities, tramps 
infest the roads; men, women and children perish of 
cold and hunger in almost every State of the Union. 
The size of our proletariat is prodigious; its condition, 
frightful. 

What caused this dreadful change, from universal 
well-being to such a state of ominous inequality and suf- 
fering? To a very great extent, the manufacturing 
system. 

23a j 



346 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

We have become the world's melting-pot. The scum 
of creation has been dumped on us. Some of our princi- 
pal cities are more foreign than American. The most 
dangerous and corrupting hordes of the Old World have 
invaded us. The vice and the crime which they have 
planted in our midst, are sickening and terrifying. 

What brought these Goths and Vandals to our 
shores? The manufacturers are mainly to blame. They 
wanted cheap labor; and they didn't care a curse how 
much harm to our future might be the consequence of 
their heartless policy. Let them but pile up their mil- 
lions — they recked not of the nation's future. "Apres 
nous le deluge!" Let the future take care of itself: the 
Flood which might come thereafter, mattered not to 
them. 

I never gazed upon a cotton mill, running at night, 
that it did not seem to me to be some hideous monster, 
with a hundred dull red eyes, indicative of the flames 
within which were consuming the men, women and chil- 
dren chained to the remorseless wheel of labor. Every 
one of these red-eyed monsters is a Moloch, into which 
soulless Commercialism is casting human victims — the 
atrocious sacrifice to an insatiable god! 

Did you ever see the smelting works of Birmingham, 
at night? Did you ever see Pittsburg, at night? If so, 
you have gazed upon something more infernal than 
Dante or Milton could throw into their pictures of hell. 

War sometimes closes the temple of Janus — com- 
mercialism never does. On the battlefield, the life of the 
vanquished is spared — no pity ever softens the cold, 
hard eyes of commercialism. 

The undeniable statistics published by the United 
States Government prove that, in loss of life and limb, in 
sick lists, and prematurely exhausted, our manufacturing 
system drains the national vital forces to a greater 
degree than would a perpetual war. 

No foreign foe could slay as many American citizens 
as our commercialism slaughters. No invading Attila 
and his Huns could gather up so much plunder, and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 347 

reduce so many millions of our people to want as our 
manufacturing system does. Tamerlane never sacked 
so many homes, never subdued as many millions of 
people as our manufacturers have done. 

In the name of Patriotism, under the pretense of 
paying high wages, the manufacturer has ground the 
face of the poor, driven countless men and boys to crime, 
sunk multitudes of women to perdition, and imported a 
host of low-class foreigners, to take bread out of the 
mouths of native Americans. They have pinched wages 
to the limit of physical endurance, have shot down with- 
out pity the workmen whom intolerable treatment had 
driven to desperation; have sold their goods at lower 
prices to alien peoples abroad than they will accept from 
their own flesh and blood, here at home ; have corrupted 
our politics, debauched our judiciary, enslaved the press, 
and well-nigh destroyed the confidence of our people in 
the churches of Christ. 

To the manufacturers is largely due the deplorable 
concentration of population in the cities — a concentra- 
tion ruinous to the industrial and moral welfare of the 
poorer classes. 

Here are the storm-centers: here are the rumbling, 
seething volcanoes: here are the depravities and the 
criminalities that cancerously eat into the body politic: 
here are the savage hosts. that are muttering revolution, 
flying the red flag, and chanting the "Marseillaise!" 

The Privileged are ever blind. They can't be made 
to see. The Roman Senators would not read the signs 
of the times : the French nobles would not heed warn- 
ings: the Southern slave-owners could not be taught 
wisdom: the English lords, even now, are cursing the 
heavens and daring the thunderbolt. It has always been 
so. Never is a Cassandra lacking, and never can the 
prophet save Troy. 

Would to God that not a single custom-house had 
ever been built on our shores. Had we never had 
a Tariff; had we left Industry to prosper on its own 
merits, forcing nothing by hot-house processes: had we 



348 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

never enacted a "law" which enabled one man's busi- 
ness to thrive at the expense of another's: had we never 
disguised "Confiscation" under the name of "Protec- 
tion": had we never allowed the manufacturers to take 
charge of legislation, and to fashion the elaborate sys- 
tem which methodically transfers wealth from one class 
to another — we would never have seen the Presidency 
sold to the highest bidder, never seen a Sugar Trust steal 
$2,000,000 per year, at one Custom-house: never wit- 
nessed the bloody uprising of the tobacco-growers in 
Kentucky and Tennessee ; never seen an army of unem- 
ployed; never heard of an employment system which 
evolved the $5-per-week girl and her "gentleman 
friend"; never known of fathers and mothers giving 
away their children because they couldn't feed them; 
never been horrified by the whole families starving 
together, or killing themselves to escape the lingering 
tortures of cold and hunger; never have been put to the 
blush by an official report on home-life which our Gov- 
ernment dared not publish tO the world ! 

Historians tell you that the Southern States were 
originally in favor of a protective tariff, but changed 
when it was found that slave labor in the mills was a 
failure. That is not true. The South was the Cavalier 
section; and the Cavalier had no genius or inclination 
for mechanical pursuits, literary seclusion, or manufac- 
turing. In fact, the typical Cavalier was not much of a 
worker, at anything. His tastes ran to horseback exer- 
cise, athletic sports, hunting and fishing, gaming, horse- 
racing and cock-fighting. Magnificent as a soldier, he 
was a mere child in business. The sedentary life of a 
scholar was his abomination: confinement in the count- 
ing-house, a punishment : the management of a manufac- 
turing establishment, utterly foreign to his taste and 
capacity. 

These facts are so well-known that it astounds one to 
read, in the histories, the statement that the South 
turned against Protection because she had tried manu- 
facturing and failed. The truth is, that while Mr. Cal- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 349 

houn, in 1816, supported Mr. Clay, in his tariff policy, 
the South never was in favor of Protection. Mr. Jeffer- 
son had taught the agricultural section the great lesson, 
that the tariff robs agriculture for the benefit of manu- 
factures. On that subject, the Southern States were 
Jeffersonian. The greatest speech ever made by an 
American against the principle and policy of Protection, 
was that of George McDuffie. John Randolph, of Roa- 
noke, had thundered against it throughout his long 
career — and he entered Congress under Washington's 
immediate successor. Northern historians ignore 
McDuffie, and classify Randolph as a freak; but this 
country never produced two orators of greater power, 
eloquence and influence. Either one of them could speak 
for three hours at a stretch, and hold throughout the 
fascinated attention of their Congressional audience. 

In fact, Henry Clay, crazy to be President, and there- 
fore catering to the North, was the only towering figure 
in the South that stood throughout for Protection; and 
Kentucky is not, strictly speaking, a Southern State, any 
more than West Virginia is. 

From the very beginning, the statesmen of the South 
realized that their section, being agricultural, was the 
principal loser to New England under the tariff system. 
From the first, the successive increases in tariff rates, 
provoked greater and greater indignation in the South. 
George McDuffie had truthfully declared that, out of 
every hundred bales of cotton produced in our fields, the 
tariff robbed us of forty. 

But New England paid no attention to these protests. 
Poverty-cursed by nature, she was determined to get 
rich at lawmaking. If she could so manipulate the 
import duties as to shut out competition, she could manu- 
facture the goods which the American consumers must 
purchase, at her own prices. With the foreign manufac- 
turer kept out, by custom-house duties, the American 
consumer of manufactured articles would be at her 
mercy. She could put up prices to such an extent that he 
would be plundered and New England enriched. In this 



350 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

way, the section least favored by nature would, vampire- 
like, suck the wealth out of the agricultural sections, 
upon which nature had showered such favors. Thus, the 
naturally rich section would be doomed to perpetual 
poverty, while the naturally poor section would amass 
such wealth as the world had never previously known. 

So, New England went on from Congress to Con- 
gress, iuching up, inching up, raising the rates every few 
years. Henry Clay, — brilliant, ambitious, head-strong, 
superficial — became the champion of the Eastern manu- 
facturers, doing immensely more for them than it was in 
Daniel Webster to do. 

In 1828, the worst of all tariffs — up to that time — 
was enacted into "law." It is known as the "Tariff of 
Abominations. ' ' 

When the details of this atrocious bill became known, 
at the South, there was a furious outcry against it. In 
most of the States, public meetings denounced it. 
Georgia declared that the "law" was not binding. South 
Carolina went still further, and took her stand on the 
famous ground of "Nullification." 

At this point, the significance of the Peggy O'Neal 
rumpus is vividly evident. Calhoun, being the great 
opponent of the Protective principle and the apostle of 
Nullification, can any one doubt that Jackson's intense 
scorn and hatred of him — as the cause of Peggy 
O'Neal's failure to get into society — influenced the deci- 
sion of Jackson! 

In his conflict with the United States Indian agent, 
Dinsmore, we have seen how the passionate, iron- willed 
Jackson defied the United States authorities, threatened 
to destroy Dinsmore and the agency-house, and declared 
that if the Federal Government did not respect the 
rights of the State of Tennessee, it would be the duty of 
her people, as freemen, to redress their grievances by 
resort to arms. And Jackson required his friend, 
George W. Campbell, to carry these threats to the Sec- 
retary of W^ar! 

Again, after the Webster-Hayne debate. President 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 351 

Jackson wrote a note of congratulation — to whom? 
Webster? No; to Hayne. 

Therefore, had not the Peggy O'Neal row occurred, 
had Calhoun and Jackson remained good friends; had 
Calhoun opened his house to the outlawed woman and 
thus assured her entrance into the best social circles; 
had he not foiled the burning ambition of Jackson's 
favorite, and caused her to inflame the old General's 
heart against him — in a word, if Calhoun had been an 
adroit, limber-kneed courtier, as Van Buren was, can 
there be any serious doubt that the course of events 
would have been different? 

Balked by Calhoun in a matter on which he had set 
his whole heart, and kept at fever heat by the artful, 
insidious, untiring Peggy — who played injured inno- 
cence with consummate skill — Jackson grew to hate 
John C. Calhoun as even he had never hated any other 
man. And wherever Andrew Jackson hated, he wanted 
to hurt. His whole life proves that. 

When Carolina passed her ordinance of Nullification, 
and prepared to resist the enforcement of the new tariff 
"law," Jackson issued his proclamation of remonstrance 
and warning. Also he made preparations to collect the 
custom-house duties in South Carolina. 

A bill was introduced into Congress, to empower the 
President to use the military to enforce the law. 

Historians of a certain sort make a great to-do over 
Jackson's threats to hang Calhoun, over his toast at the 
Jefferson-day banquet, ("The Union: it must be pre- 
served!") and over the consternation and dismay of 
Calhoun and his following. 

In all of this, there isn't a scintilla of truth, beyond 
the fact that Jackson did send, or propose, such a toast. 
(Authorities differ as to his being present at the ban- 
quet. In the book, "Great Senators," it is stated that 
Jackson was too unwell to attend.) 

It is possible that the old General, who had shown 
such a readiness to unlawfully hang prisoners, may have 
threatened, in some wild talk at the White House, to 



352 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

hang a United States Senator,* but if any such silly 
explosion took place, it had no effect whatever on Cal- 
houn. He never flinched one iota throughout the crisis. 
His speeches ring with the fiery determination of Patrick 
Henry. Time and again, he told the Senate that any 
attempt to enforce that abominable ''law," would be 
resisted with all the armed force of South Carolina. 
Addressing the Senate, he said : 

"I consider the bill as far worse, and more dangerous to lib- 
erty, than the tariff. It has been most wantonly passed, when its 
avowed object no longer justified it. I consider it as chains forged 
and fitted to the limbs of the States, and hung up to be used when 
•occasion may require. We are told in order to justify the passage 
of this fatal measure, that it was necessary to present the olive 
branch with one hand and the sword with the other. We scorn the 
alternative. Yet have no right to present the sword. The Constitu- 
tion never put the instrument in your hands to be employed against 
a State; and as to the olive branch, whether we receive it or not will 
not depend on your menace but on our own estimate of what is due 
to ourselves and the rest of the community in reference to the diffi- 
cult subject on which we have taken issue." 

In another speech, he declared: 

"* * * It has been said that the bill declares war against South 
Carolina. No. It decrees a massacre of her citizens! War has 
something ennobling about it, with all its horrors, brings Into action 
the highest qualities, intellectual and moral. It was, perhaps, in 
the order of Providence that it should be permitted for that very 
purpose. But this bill declares no war, except, indeed, it be that 
which avenges wage — a war. not against the community, but the 
citizens of whom that community is composed. But I regard it as 
worse than savage warfare — as an attempt to take away life under 
the color of law, without the trial by jury, or any other safeguard 
which the Constitution has thrown around the life of the citizen! 
It authorizes the President, or even his deputies, when they may 
suppose the law to be violated, without the intervention of a court 
or jury, to kill without mercy or discrimination! 

"It has been said by the S'enator from Tennessee (Mr. Grundy) 
to be a menace of peace! Yes: such peace as the wolf gives to the 
lamb, the kite to the dove! Such peace as Russia gives to Poland, 
or death to its victims! A peace, by extinguishing the political 
existence of the State, by awing her into an abandonment of the 
exercise of every power which constitutes her a sovereign com- 
munity. It is to South Carolina a question of self-preservation; 
and I proclaim it that, should this bill pass, and an attempt be made 
to enforce it, it will be resisted, at every hazard — even that of death 
itself. Death is not the greatest calamity: there are others still 



♦Upon his resignation from the Vice-Preaidency, Mr. Calhoun 
had been elected to the Senate. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 353 

more terrible to the free and brave, and among them may be placed 
the loss of liberty and honor. There are thousands of her brave 
sons who, if need be, are prepared cheerfully to lay down their 
lives in defense of the State, and the great principles of constitu- 
tional liberty for which she is contending. God forbid that this 
should become a necessity! It never can be, unless this Govern- 
ment is resolved to bring the question to extremity, when her gal- 
lant sons will stand prepared to perform the last duty — to die 
nobly." 

This language is certainly not that of a craven. 
Jackson himself never blazed forth more fiercely. 

Who was it that, thoroughly alarmed at the course 
events were taking, weakened and surrendered? 

It was Henry Clay. 

He saw, when almost too late, that his reckless pur- 
suit of Northern favor was about to plunge his country 
into civil war ! He was in desperate straits. To his con- 
fusion, it had become evident that Calhoun was as deter- 
mined as Jackson. Neither would "give" an inch. 

To prevent the worst of all national calamities. Clay, 
(in so many words, uttered in open session in the Sen- 
ate,) surrendered the principle of Protection. This 
being done, compromise was easy. The "Bill of Abomi- 
nations" went to the limbo of dead things; and after 
Congress had thus removed the "cause of war," South 
Carolina repealed her ordinance of Nullification. 

No American statesman ever displayed such nerve, 
such Roman courage as Calhoun did, in this famous 
episode — in which he, single-handed, fought New Eng- 
land, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson. His triumph 
was as complete as it was marvellous. 

And yet, nearly all of the histories put him in the 
dust, with fear-whitened face, trembling at the threats 
of the irate Jackson. 

Compared to the tariff monstrosities of today, the 
"Bill of Abominations" was a beautiful specimen of 
legislative justice. 

Alas ! we have fallen upon the evil times in which no 
Senator, no Governor, no aroused commonwealth dares 
to imitate the glorious example of Calhoun and South 
Carolina I 



354 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

CONTEMPORARY CHARACTERS— INCIDENTS 
AND ANECDOTES. 

McDuffie's Antagonist in the Famous Duel. 

' ' Colonel William Cumming was a native of Augusta, 
Georgia. Born to the inheritance of fortune, he received 
a liberal education and selected the law as a profession. 
He read with the celebrated Judges Reeve and Gould, at 
Litchfield, Connecticut. At the period of his study this 
was the only law-school in the United States. Many 
anecdotes of his peculiarities during his residence at the 
school were related by his preceptors to the young gen- 
tlemen from Georgia who followed him in the office in 
after-years. A moot court was a part of the system of 
instruction, in which questions of law, propounded by 
one of the professors, were argued by students appointed 
for the purpose. On one occasion, Cumming was reply- 
ing to the argument of a competitor, and was resented 
by insulting words. Turning to the gentleman, and 
without speaking, Cumming knocked him down. Imme- 
diately, and without the slightest appearance of excite- 
ment, addressing the presiding professor, he remarked: 
'Having summarily disposed of the gentleman, I will 
proceed to treat this argument in like manner.' 

"Upon his return to Georgia, the war with England 
having broken out, he procured the commission of a cap- 
tain and entered the army. He was transferred to the 
Northern frontier — then the seat of active operations — 
and soon distinguished himself amid that immortal 
band, all of whom now sleep with their fathers — Miller, 
Brook, Jessup, McCrea, Appling, Gaines, and Twiggs. 
Cumming, Appling, and Twiggs were Georgians. At the 
battle of Lundy's Lane he was severely wounded and 
borne from the field. He was placed in an adjoining 
room to General Preston, who was also suffering from a 
wound. Cumming was a favorite of Preston's, and both 
were full of prejudice toward the men of the North. 
Late at night, Preston was aroused by a boisterous laugh 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 355 

in Gumming 's apartment. Such a laugh was so unusual 
with him that the General supposed he had become 
delirious from pain. He was unable to go to him, but 
called and inquired the cause of his mirth. 

" 'I can't sleep/ was the reply, 'and I was thinking 
over the incidents of the day, and just remembered that 
there had not in the conflict been an officer wounded 
whose home was north of Mason and Dixon's line. 
Those fellows know well how to take care of their bacon. ' 

''He was soon promoted to a colonelcy, and was fast 
rising to the next grade when the war terminated. In 
the reduction of the army he was retained — a compli- 
ment to his merits as a man and as an officer. He was 
not satisfied with this, and, in declining to remain in the 
army, wrote to the Secretary of War: 

" 'There are many whose services have been greater, and whose 
merits are superior to mine, who have no other means of livelihood. 
I am independent and desire some other may be retained in my 
stead.' 

"He was unambitious of political distinction, though 
intensely solicitous to promote that of his friends. His 
high qualities of soul and mind endeared him to the peo- 
ple of the State, who desired and sought every occasion 
which they deemed worthy of him, to tender him the 
first positions within their gift; but upon every one of 
these he remained firm to his purpose, refusing always 
the proffered preferment. Upon one occasion, when 
written to by a majority of the members of the Legisla- 
ture, entreating him to permit them to send him to the 
Senate of the United States, he declined, adding: 'I am 
a plain, military man. Should my country, in that 
capacity, require my services, I shall be ready to render 
them; but in no other.' He continued to reside in 
Augusta in extreme seclusion. Upon the breaking out 
of the war with Mexico he was tendered, by Mr. Polk, 
the command of the army, but declined on account of his 
age and declining health, deeming himself -physically 
incapable of encountering the fatigue the position would 
involve." — Sparks: "Memories of Fifty Years." 



356 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

George McDuffie. 

George McDuffie was a very different man. Born of 
humble parentage in one of the eastern counties of 
Georgia, he enjoyed but few advantages. His early edu- 
cation was limited; a fortuitous circumstance brought 
him to the knowledge of one of the Calhouns, who saw 
at once in the boy the promise of the man. Proposing to 
educate him and fit him for a destiny which he believed 
an eminent one, he invited him to his home, and fur- 
nished him with the means of accomplishing this end. 

"The rise of McDuffie at the Bar was. rapid; he had 
not practised three years before his position was by the 
side of the first minds of the State, and his name in the 
mouth of every one — the coming man of the South. 

"Fortunately at that time it was the pride of South 
Carolina to call to her service the best talent in all the 
public offices, State and National, and with one acclaim 
the people demanded his services in Congress. Mr. 
Simpkins, the incumbent from the Edgefield district, 
declined a re-election, that his legal partner, Mr. 
McDuffie, might succeed him, and he was chosen by 
acclamation. He came in at a time when talent abounded 
in Congress, and when the country was deeply agitated 
with the approaching election for President. Almost 
immediately upon his entering Congress an altercation 
occurred upon the floor of the House between him and 
Mr. Randolph, causing him to leave the House in a rage, 
with the detetrmination to challenge McDuffie. This, 
however, when he cooled, he declined to do. This ren- 
contre of wit and bitter words gave rise to an amusing 
incident during its progress. 

"Jack Baker, the wag and wit of Virginia, was an 
auditor in the gallery of the House. Randolph, as usual, 
was the assailant, and was very severe. Mr. McDuffie 
replied, and was equally caustic, and this to the astonish- 
ment of every one; for all supposed the young member 
was annihilated — as so many had been by Randolph — 
and would not reply. His antagonist was completely 
taken aback, and evidently felt, with Sir Andrew Ague- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 357 

cheek: 'Had I known he was so cunning of fence, I had 
seen him damned ere I had fought him.' But he was in 
for it, and must reply. His rejoinder was angry, and 
wanting in its usual biting sarcasm. McDuffie rose to 
reply, and, pausing, seemed to hesitate, when Baker 
from the gallery audibly exclaimed: 'Lay on, Macduff, 
and damned be he who first cries hold, enough!' The 
silence which pervaded the chamber was broken by a 
general, laugh, greatly disconcerting Randolph, but 
seeming to inspire McDuffie, who went on in a strain of 
vituperation, withering, pungent, in the midst of which 
Mr. Randolph left his seat and the House. 

' * On one occasion of social meeting at a public dinner- 
party in Georgia, a young South Carolinian gave as a 
sentiment: 'George McDuffie — the pride of South Caro- 
lina.' This was immediately responded to by Mirabeau 
B. Lamar, the late President of Texas, who was then 
young, and a great pet of his friends, with another: 
'Colonel William Cumming — 

" 'The man who England's arms defied, 

A bar to base designers; 
Who checked alike old Britain's pride 

And noisy South Carolina's.' 

"The wit of the impromptu was so fine and the com- 
pany so appreciative, that, as if by common consent, all 
enjoyed it, and good feeling was not disturbed. 

"McDuffie was not above the middle size. His 
features were large and striking, especially his eyes, 
forehead and nose. The latter was prominent and 
aquiline. His eyes were very brilliant, blue, and deeply 
set under a massive brow — his mouth large, with finely 
chiselled lips, which, in meeting, always wore the appear- 
ance of being compressed. In manners he was retiring 
without being awkward. His temperament was nervous 
and ardent, and his feelings strong. His manner when 
speaking was nervous and impassioned, and at times 
fiercely vehement, and again persuasive and tenderly 
pathetic, and in every mood he was deeply eloquent." 
— Sparks: "Memories of Fifty Years." 



358 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

John Forsyth. 

\'The world, perhaps, never furnished a more adroit 
debater than John Forsyth. He was the Ajax Telamon 
of his party, and was rapidly rivalling the first in the 
estimation of that party. He hated Calhoun, and at 
times was at no pains to conceal it in debate. In the 
warmth of debate, upon one occasion, he alluded in 
severe terms, to the manner in which Mr. Crawford had 
been treated, during his incumbency as Secretary of the 
Treasury, by a certain party press in the interest of Mr. 
Calhoun. This touched the Vice-President on the raw: 
thus stung, he turned and demanded if the Senator 
alluded to him. Forsyth's manner was truly grand, as 
it was intensely fine: turning from the Senate to the 
Vice-President, he demanded with the imperiousness of 
an emperor: 'By what right does the Chair ask that 
question of me?' and paused as if for a reply, with his 
intensely gleaming eye steadily fixed upon that of Cal- 
houn. The power was with the Speaker, and the Chair 
was awed into silence. Slowly turning to the Senate, 
every member of which manifested deep feeling, he con- 
tinued, as his person seemed to swell into gigantic pro- 
portions, and his eye to sweep the entire chamber, 'Let 
the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung,' and 
went on with the debate. "—Sparks : "Memories of Fifty 
Years." 

A New One on Andrew Jackson. 

The daughter of a Massachusetts Senator told me 
that in her younger life she went with her father to one 
of the regulation dinners at the White House. General 
Jackson himself took her out to the dinner-table. There 
was some talk about the light of the table, and the Gen- 
eral said to her, 'The chanticleer does not burn well.' 
She was so determined that she should not misunder- 
stand him that she pretended not to hear him and asked 
him what he said. To which his distinct reply was, 'The 
chanticleer does not burn well.' "—Edward Everett 
Hale: "Memories of a Hundred Years." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 359 

General Jackson at the Races : Anecdotes He Relates. 

' ' The reviewer correctly says, '■ It has long been a 
matter of jest in Tennessee, indeed it was quite as freely 
spoken of during the life of General Jackson as it has 
been since his death, that the old hero conquered all his 
enemies, and those of his country, whom he met ; that he 
had overthrown the savage warriors of Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, Georgia, and Florida, and forced the fiercest and 
most stubborn to humbly sue for peace; that he had met 
and conquered the picked army of Packenham at New 
Orleans, with a handful of raw militia and volunteers; 
had overthrown the friends of the United States Bank; 
had met *'the beast with seven heads and ten horns," as 
he always termed the nullification of South Carolina, 
and compelled submission ; had forced the tariff into the 
channels he indicated, and had never known defeat; but 
he was unable to conquer the little Maria. She alone 
was able to meet all the hosts of the Hermitage, and 
compel them to follow her to the winning-post. Rivals 
for fame, imported from beyond the State, suffered the 
same ignominious fate. Finally she went abroad, and 
amid the rich fields and verdant grass of the ''dark and 
bloody ground," she met and conquered the hitherto 
invincible Robin Grey, the great-grand sire of the ever- 
to-be-lamented Lexington, the racer without a peer, the 
sire without a rival.' Such was Hanie's Maria in Ten- 
nessee, but in 1816, when nine years old, she was sold and 
taken to South Carolina, where she was badly beaten. 
Indeed, she never won a race after she left this State. 
Various were the opinions concerning her sudden fail- 
ures. But the best reason given was that she had lost 
the careful nursing of Green Berry Williams and the 
masterly horsemanship on the track of her old jockey, 
Monkey Simon, who rode every race she made in Ten- 
nessee, and she was never beaten until she left the State. 
The uniform success of Maria, however, must to a great 
extent be accredited to her trainer, Mr. Green Berry 
Williams. He came to Tennessee from Virginia or 
Georgia in 1806, with three thoroughbred horses, and 



360 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

found a home with Captain Wm. Alexander at Harts- 
ville, in Sumner County. He had been bred to the track, 
having as a boy been an expert rider of quarter races, 
and was an experienced trainer. He was a man of mark 
in his profession, and had a host of friends. 

"The love of fast horses, and, indeed, of all thorough- 
bred animals, was a life-long characteristic of General 
Jackson. Colonel Peyton tells us in his graphic and 
happy style, with what delight even in the last years of 
his Presidency the old chief enjoyed the exercises of his 
horses on the race-course at Washington. He says: 'In 
the spring of 1834, while a member of Congress, I was 
invited by my friend, Major A. J. Donelson, Private Sec- 
retary of President Jackson, to visit without ceremony 
the stable of horses then being trained at Washington by 
himself and Major T. P. Andrews, of the United States 
Army, consisting of Busiris, by Eclipse, owned by Gen- 
eral C. Irvine; Emily, by Ratiler, and Lady Nashville, 
by Stockholder, belonging to Major Donelson, and 
Bolivia, by Tennessee Oscar, owned by General Jackson, 
which were trained by M. L. Hammond, who shortly 
after trained John Bascom when he beat Post Boy in a 
great match over the Long Island course. I assisted in 
timing all the ''trial runs" of the stable, and as the race 
meeting drew near, Major Donelson called to notify me 
that the last and most important trial would take place 
on the following morning, urging me to be oh hand, and 
saying the General and Mr. Van Buren (the Vice-Presi- 
dent) would be present. Galloping out, I overtook the 
party, the General being as calm as a 'summer's morn- 
ing.' On our arrival the horses were brought out, 
stripped, and saddled for the gallop. Busiris, an 
immense animal in size, and of prodigious muscular 
power, became furious and unmanageable, requiring 
two men to hold him for Jesse, Major D.'s colored boy, 
to mount. As soon as Busiris began 'kerlaraping,' Gen- 
eral Jackson fired up, and took command, and issued 
orders to everybody. To the trainer he said, 'Why 
don't you break him of those tricks? I could do it in an 




President Andrew Jackson 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 361 

hour.' Rarey could not have done it in a week. I had 
dismounted, prepared my watch, and taken my place 
immediately below the judge's stand for the purpose of 
timing, the General and Mr. Van Buren remaining on 
their horses in the rear of the stand, which was a safe 
and convenient position, as the quarter-stretch was 
enclosed on both sides down to the stand, no other part 
of the course being inclosed on the inside. The General, 
greatly excited, was watching Busiris, and commanding 
everybody. He said to me, 'Why don't you take your 
position there? You ought to know where to stand to 
time a horse' — pointing to the place I intended to 
occupy in due time. I 'toed the mark,' lever in hand, 
without saying a word (nobody ever 'jawed back' at Old 
Hickory when he was in one of his ways). Busiris was 
still 'kerlaraping.^ 'Hold him, Jess. Don't let him 
break down the fence; now bring 'em up and give 'em a 
fair start,' and flashing his eye from the enraged horse 
to Mr. Van Buren, who had left his safe position in the 
rear and ridden almost into the track below the stand, he 
stormed out, 'Get behind me, Mr. Van Buren, they will 
run over you, sir.' Mr. Van Buren obeyed orders 
promptly, as the timer had done a moment before. This 
was one of the anecdotes current among the stump- 
speakers of Tennessee in the Presidential canvass of 
1836, between Mr. Van Buren and Judge White, to illus- 
trate General Jackson's fatherly protection of Mr. Van 
Buren. Lady Nashville and Bolivia were next brought 
out, and demeaned themselves in a most becoming man- 
ner. The trials were highly satisfactory, and greatly 
pleased the General, whose filly, Bolivia, a descendant of 
his favorite horse Truxton, was to run in an important 
sweepstakes at the coming meeting at Washington. He 
left the course in the finest humor, and on his way to the 
White House he gave us, in a torrent-like manner, his 
early turf experiences in Tennessee. He was the most 
fluent, impressive, and eloquent conversationalist I ever 
met, and in any company took the lead in conversation, 
and nobody ever seemed disposed to talk where he was, 

24 a ?. 



362 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

and on this occasion I found him especially interesting — 
going back to the race of Truxton and Greyhound at 
Hartsville in 1805, and coming up to the great match 
between his horse Doublehead and Colonel Newton's 
Cannon's Expectation, which was run about 1811 over 
the Clover Bottom course, four-mile heats, for $5,000 a 
side, Doublehead being the winner. He alluded to the 
intense excitement and extravagant betting on the Trux- 
ton and Greyhound race; said besides the main bet, he 
won $1,500 in wearing apparel, and that his friend, Pat- 
ton Anderson, after betting all his money and the horse 
he rode to the race, staked fifteen of the finest horses on 
the ground belonging to other persons, many of them 
having ladies' saddles on their backs. 'Now,' said he, 
'I would not have done that for the world, but Patton 
did it, and as he won, and treated to a whole barrel of 
cider and a basketful of gingercakes, he made it all 
right.' He recounted a thrilling incident, also, which 
occurred at Clover Bottom, after the race of Double- 
head and Expectation, which illustrated his maxim 'that 
rashness sometimes is policy, and then I am rash.' 
'After the race,' said he, 'I went to the stable to see 
the old horse cooled off (it was near the proprietor's 
dwelling), and about dusk I observed Patton Anderson 
approaching in a brisk walk, pursued by a crowd of 
excited men, with several of whom I was aware he had 
an old feud. I was bound to make common cause with 
Patton, and I knew that unless I could check them we 
should both be roughly handled. I met them at the stile, 
and protested against their course as unmanly, and 
pledged myself that Patton would meet any of them at 
sunrise the next morning, and give satisfaction, thus 
delaying them until Patton had passed into the house. 
But the leaders of the crowd swore they intended to kill 
him, and I saw there remained but one chance for us, and 
that was to bluff them off". I knew they had no cause of 
quarrel with me, and that they supposed I was armed; 
putting my hand behind me into my coat pocket, I opened 
a tin tobacco box, my only weapon, and said, ' ' I will shoot 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 363 

dead the first man who attempts to cross that fence," and 
as their leader placed his foot on the first step, I raised 
my arm and closed the box with a click very like the 
cocking of a pistol (it was so dark they could not dis- 
tinguish what I held in my hand), and, sir, they 
scrambled like a flock of deer. I knew there were men in 
that crowd who were not afraid to meet me or any other 
man; but, Mr. Van Buren, no man is willing to take the 
chance of being killed by an accidental shot in the dark. ' 
I am aware that Mr. Parton, in his life of General Jack- 
son, represents the tobacco-box exploit as occurring in 
the daytime, at a long dinner-table, on the race-course, 
General Jackson on the top of the table, 'striding at a 
tremendous pace to the rescue of Patton Anderson, 
wading knee-deep in dinner.' " — Guild: "Old Times in 
Tennessee." 



364 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Insepaeable from the full sovereignty of any Gov- 
ernment, is the creation of Money. Like the exclusive 
authority to make treaties with other nations, to admin- 
ister justice, to legislate, to declare war, the power to 
make and control the currency of the nation is an 
attribute of royalty, of supreme power. 

In the history of the world, the unity of these func- 
tions in the King has been found necessary to the dignity 
and strength of the realm. 

Where nobles were so powerful that they themselves 
could administer justice in their own provinces, make 
war upon one another or upon foreign princes, and coin 
money — chaotic conditions existed. The growth of the 
royal prerogatives were marked by rigorous repression 
of private war, the exclusive creation of judicial tri- 
bunals, and the suppression of all coinage save that of 
the King. 

I use the term "create money" purposely. For just 
as the priest can persuade his dupe to disbelieve the 
evidence of his own eyes and common-sense, so the 
money-changers have convinced about nine-tenths of the 
world that Money is a creation of God, as the mountains 
and valleys are. 

Yet, if one could only prevail upon the people to look 
about them in a rational, independent way, the fact 
would be apparent to all that Nature nowhere produces 
any such thing as Money. 

God, after all His labors at the dawn of creation, left 
very many things for man to do. Nature furnishes the 
raw materials, but it is for us to manufacture. God 
made the forest, but man must make charcoal, turpen- 
tine, shingles, lumber, staves, squared timbers. Nature 
gives us the cow, but not the butter ; we must create that 
by churning. Nature imbedded coal and iron ore in the 
earth, but man makes the axe, the hoe, the plow, the 
steel-rail, the battle-ship. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 365 

In the same sense that linen and paper and a bar of 
gold are the hand-work of human beings, money is. But 
in some inscrutable manner, the financiers of the world 
have hypnotized governors and the governed, until the 
actualities have no influence upon national policies. The 
power behind every throne is the banker who rules the 
world through his power to mystify the nations on the 
subject of Money. Although history proves that a 
medium of exchange is the creature of convention, and 
that it may consist of almost any portable, non-perishable 
commodity, nearly everybody seems to believe that Gold 
and Silver are the money metals, by divine right. 

In the Santa Cruz Islands, the natives have a beauti- 
ful currency made of coils of soft bark covered with 
crimson feathers. It serves every purpose for which 
men create money. The Santa Cruz Islands are not 
cursed by any Money Trusts. 

When gold threatened to become too plentiful and 
cheap, the European bankers went to silver as the money 
of final payment. Then when the silver output grew 
alarmingly large, they repudiated silver and went over 
to gold. If there should be made tomorrow, a discovery 
of some enormous deposit of the yellow metal, the 
bankers would immediately begin to denounce gold as 
they condemned silver. (Even now, they are beginning 
to say that there is too much gold.) Why do they shift 
about from one metal to the other, and why did they 
wage relentless warfare against bi-metalism? 

Because the financiers are determined to have as 
small a volume of legal tenders as possible — so that they 
can the more easily corner the available supply of real 
money, and compel the mercantile world to supply its 
needs for currency with bank paper. 

In this way, the financiers reap untold millions of 
profits on currency of various kinds, whose cost did not 
exceed the ink, paper and printing, or engraving. In 
this way, they can inflate or contract the volume of cir- 
culating medium, and raise, or lower, prices. If threat- 
ened with adverse legislation, they can, by calling in 



366 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

loans, decreasing the currency, and hoarding the avail- 
able cash, produce a panic which frightens the govern- 
ment into submission. In this country, they did just 
that, time and again. 

After the triumph of the Kings over the feudal lords 
had restored to the sovereign the exclusive privilege of 
creating money, that attribute of royalty was never dele- 
gated to a subject until the reign of the most dissolute 
and despicable Charles II. of England. During his reign, 
the palace was a brothel, and respectability fell into dis- 
grace. It was positively ridiculous for a courtier to be 
honest, and a lady of the royal circle to be chaste. 
Among the lewd women who for a season governed 
Charles, was Barbara Villiers. Through her, the gold- 
smiths of London secured from her royal lover a grant 
from which our present world-wide system of private 
coinage is lineally descended. 

In the language of the highest courts of Europe and 
America, the words, "to coin money", are synonymous 
with, "to create money." And who is it that creates the 
money which the mass of mankind use today? The 
banker. He has driven bi-metalism away; has forced 
each nation to heap up a vast hoard of idle, useless gold ; 
he has obtained unlimited control of all that is not tied 
up in these Gold Reserves — and he coins his own money 
like a King, filling the veins and arteries of commerce 
with it. Whoever controls the currency is master of 
everything and everybody. The banker has so manipu- 
lated ministries, cabinets, emperors, czars, kings, presi- 
dents, parliaments, congresses and the press, that he is, 
at this blessed moment, lord of lords, and king of kings. 

In these United States, one banker controls abso- 
lutely all of the visible and available supply of money. 
He Is J. P. Morgan. His power is vastly more absolute, 
unreachable and irresistible than is that of any crowned 
and sceptred monarch in the world. At the nod of his 
head, that one banker could cause a panic now, just as 
- he and his associates caused those of 1907 and 1893. 

When Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 367 

Gouverneur Morris were laying the foundations for onr 
financial system, they adopted bi-metalism, as a matter 
of course. The Constitution so pro\ided. In the Con- 
vention of 1787, not a single voice was heard against the 
equality of the use of these two metals. Impliedly, the 
intention to use paper money, also, is expressed in the 
words forbidding the States to use anything but gold 
and silver. 

But Hamilton's plan contemplated a partnership of 
wealth and government, together with a consolidation of 
power in the Federal system. Naturally, therefore, he 
favored a central bank. On the Constitutional question 
involved, Washington's cabinet split. One of the unac- 
countable things about this famous controversy is, that 
neither Washington, nor Hamilton, nor Edmund Ean- 
dolph, made any allusion to the decisive fact— namely, 
the voting down, in the Convention of 1787, of the prop- 
osition to give the Federal Government the authority to 
charter corporations. Washington, while no lawyer, 
ought to have known how much importance to attach to 
this expression of the intention of the Constitution 
makers. And even if Hamilton, out of policy, kept the 
secret locked in his own breast, there was Edmund Ran- 
dolph, a really great lawyer, who knew of the Conven- 
tion's action. But Randolph, who sided with Jefferson, 
made no use of the secret. Can it be that he considered 
himself bound, still, by the oath which, as a member of 
the Convention, he had taken? 

The Charter of the old United States Bank, its his- 
tory and its expiration are facts familiar to all. But in 
1816, Congress chartered another one for twenty years; 
and when Jackson became President, it was doing busi- 
ness in a large way, under the management of Nicholas 
Biddle. While Jackson bore a grudge against the bank 
for having dishonored his drafts as army officer, many 
years previous, tliere is no evidence that he meant to 
wage against the institution a war of extermination. He 
had referred to it in his messages, but not in a tempestu- 
ous, Jacksonian style— the style Jackson always used 
*'when his dander was up." 



368 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

The "war" on the bank has its origin in two things, 
Isaac Hill's desire to oust Jeremiah Mason from the 
presidency of a branch bank in New Hampshire, and 
Henry Clay's self-confident arrogance. Nicholas Biddle 
refused to desert Mason, although a member of Jack- 
son's cabinet intimated to him in an official letter that 
his failure to please the administration in the premises 
might result in something bad for his bank. It is wholly 
to Biddle 's credit that he stood his ground, against 
Jackson and Isaac Hill. Jeremiah Mason was doing his 
duty, compelling local Democrats to pay their debts to 
the branch bank, and it was most discreditable to the 
Jacksonians that they sought Mason's removal on the 
wscore of politics. 

But it was the impetuous, sanguine Henry Clay who 
acted the Fal staff' and led the Biddle troops to where 
they got peppered. The charter of the bank had six 
more years to run, and there waL no especial reason for 
trying to cross the bridge before they got to it. But Clay 
was Biddle 's Congressional dependence, and nothing 
would do Clay but the immediate re-chartering of the 
bank. 

So the bill was introduced prematurely. Even then, 
the old General at the White House evidenced no par- 
ticular animosity. According to Thurlow Weed (who 
states the matter in a very convincing manner in his 
"Reminiscences") Jackson drew up a list of changes in 
the bill which he demanded as a condition precedent to 
his giving it his official approval. The paper was sent 
to Biddle by the President. Every oft'icer of the bank 
readily consented to Jackson's terms. But Biddle felt 
that, as a matter of courtesy, he should submit these 
modifications to the bill to Clay and to Webster. Upon 
his doing so, Clay immediately declined to accept them. 
And Webster, as usual, deferred to Clay. 

Biddle and another of the officials of the bank, 
on further conference, were so thoroughly of the 
opinion that Jackson's requirements should be met, 
that he again sought Clay and Webster, and urged the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 369 

advisability of acquiescence. But Clay was deaf to 
reason, became impatient (as he always did at contradic- 
tion or opposition) and declared flatly that there should 
be no compromise. And what the resolute Clay said, the 
less forceful Webster echoed. 

So, much against his will, Nicholas Biddle was com- 
pelled to fight that grim old soldier whom nobody ever 
whipped — excepting, of course, the Washington ladies. 

Congress passed the bill rechartering the bank, and 
Jackson vetoed it. 

In his message, the President stated that his idea of 
a central national bank was an institution owned and 
controlled by the Government. This institution would, 
of course, have had to issue paper money; but the notes 
would have been United States currency instead of 
bank-paper. Assuming that these notes of the Jackson 
bank were to be made legal tender, you understand, at 
once, that Jackson's plan was substantially the same a-. 
that of Thomas Jefferson, of John C. Calhoun, of the old 
Greenbackers, and of the Populists. Under Jackson's 
system, the Government would have created and issued 
all the money of the country — gold, silver, and paper. 
In other words, the Jacksonian proposition, if adopted, 
would have recovered for the people of this country, at 
least, all of the ground that had been lost since a prosti- 
tute wheedled a debauchee into dismembering the royal 
sovereignty. 

If Andrew Jackson had but fought for his plan, with 
the same inflexible energy that he fought against Clay's 
bill, what a blessed revolution might have resulted! 

But he merely threw out the suggestion, without fol- 
lowing it up. Some of the passages of his veto message 
are so true and so applicable to our own plight, that they 
deserve to be quoted. 

"Distinctions in society will always exist under every 
just government. Equality of talents, of education, or 
of wealth, can not be produced by human institutions. 
In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the 
fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every 



370 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

man is equally entitled to protection by law. But when 
the laws undertake to add to these natural and just 
advantages, artificial distinctions, to grant titles, 
gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich 
richer and the potent more powerful, the humble mem- 
bers of society, the farmers, mechanics, and laborers, 
who have neither the time nor the means of securing like 
favors to themselves, have r 'i'rht to complain of the 
injustice of their government. There are no necessary 
evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. 
If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as 
heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high 
and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an 
unqualified blessing. In the act before me, there seems 
to be a wide and unnecessary departure from these just 
principles. 

"Nor is our Government to be maintained, or our 
Union preserved, by invasion of the rights and powers of 
the several States. In thus attempting to make our gen- 
eral Government strong, we make it weak. Its true 
strength consists in leaving individuals and States, as 
much as possible, to themselves; in making itself felt, 
not in its power, but in its beneficence, not in its control, 
but in its protection, not in binding the States more 
closely to the center, but leaving each to move unob- 
structed in its proper orbit. 

"Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the 
difficulties our Government now encounters, and most of 
the dangers which impend over our Union, have sprung 
from an abandonment of the legitimate objects of gov- 
ernment by our national legislation, and the adoption of 
such principles as are embodied in this act. Many of our 
rich men have not been content with equal protection and 
equal benefits, but have besought us to make them richer 
by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their 
desires, we have, in the results of our legislation, arrayed 
section against section, interest against interest, and 
man against man, in a fearful commotion which threatens 
to shake the foundations of our Union. It is time to 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 371 

pause in our career, to review our principles, and, if 
possible, revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of 
compromise which distinguished the sages of the revolu- 
tion, and the fathers of our Union. If we can not at 
once, in justice to the interests vested under improvident 
legislation, make our Government what it ought to be, we 
can, at least, take a stand against all new grants of 
monopolies and exclusive privileges, against any prosti- 
tution of our Government to the advancement of the few 
at the expense of the many, and in favor of compromise 
and gradual reform in our code of laws and system of 
political economy. 

"I have now done my duty to my country. If sus- 
tained by my fellow-citizens, I shall be grateful and 
happy ; if not, I shall find, in the motives which impel me, 
ample grounds for contentment and peace. In the 'diffi- 
culties which surround us, and the dangers which 
threaten our institutions, there is cause for neither dis- 
may nor alarm. For relief and deliverance let us firmly 
rely on that kind Providence which, I am sure, watches 
with peculiar care over the destinies of our Republic and 
on the intelligence and wisdom of our countrymen. 
Through His abundant goodness, and their patriotic 
devotion, our liberty and Union will be preserved." 

The campaign of 1832 opened up, with Clay in the 
field, and Jackson a candidate for a second term. It was 
a walk-over for the old General. Clay got but forty-nine 
electoral votes, out of a total of two hundred and eighty- 
eight. 

Backed by the people in a manner so tremendously 
emphatic, Jackson renewed hostilities on Biddle's bank. 
He ordered Duane, Secretary of the Treasury, to remove 
the Government's money from the Biddle institution. 
Duane refused. The President requested the Secretary to 
resign, and again Duane refused. Then he was removed, 
andRoger B. Taney appointed in his place. The ne\v 
Secretary promptly issued the order which the President 
desired. 

The impression made by the Jackson biographies, 



372 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

and by most of the historians, is that the money of the 
Government was immediately transferred to the pet 
State banks. According to Charles H. Peck, author of 
''The Jacksonian Epoch," the deposits were not 
"removed" at all. The order applied to future revenues, 
which, as they came in, were placed in the State bank 
selected to receive them. The sum on deposit in Biddle's 
bank was simply checked out, from time to time, in the 
usual course of disbursement; and, at the end of fifteen 
months, four million dollars of the national funds still 
remained in the national bank. 

During the contest, Biddle and his associates hal 
caused a panic, the purpose being to create a clamor 
against Jackson, a pressure which he could not resist. 
Under a similar test, we saw President Cleveland's 
boasted ''backbone" turn to tallow in 1893. When the 
Wall Street bankers, under the lead of J. P. Morgan, 
caused a panic "to give the country an object lesson," 
Cleveland fell into a pitiable state of blue funk. To Con- 
gressman William C. Oates, of Alabama, he cried in 
terror, "My God, Oates! The bankers have got the 
country by the leg!" 

Then followed the infamous midnight-conference 
with Morgan, who came to the White House demanding 
a bond-issue, and got it. The contract was drawn by 
Francis Lynde Stetson, Cleveland's former law-partner, 
(The firm of Cleveland & Stetson were attorneys for J. 
P. .Morgan & Company,) and under this contract, Mor- 
gan and his pals divided a profit of $11,000,000, in less 
than a week. 

The heroic bearing of Andrew Jackson, at the same 
kind of a crisis, is so vividly described by Joseph G. 
Baldwin, in his "Political Leaderp," that I quote the 
passage : 

"Besides, Jackson always had the sagacity to dis- 
guise his strong measures in popular forms. Whether 
his acts were always popular or not, his reasoning 
always was. Whether his proceedings were despotic or 
not, he defended them upon the principles and in the 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 373 

name of freedom. It was the Bank, he charged, that was 
the tyrant. It was seeking to overturn the Government, 
and to enslave and corrupt the people. It was buying up 
members of Congress and subsidizing the press. It was 
producing the panic and pressure, which disordered 
commerce, and crippled industry, and turned out labor to 
starve, in order to force upon the people its own financial 
system, and a renewal of its existence. It had violated 
its charter. It had closed its doors against investiga- 
tion. It had been false to its contracts. It had expended 
vast sums of money in electioneering schemes and prac- 
tices against the Government. It had assumed a tone of 
haughty insolence towards the President, as disrespect- 
ful to the office as to the incumbent. Its president lived 
in a style befitting a prince of the blood royal. From his 
palace of Andalusia he came to his marble palace 
in Philadelphia, to issue his ukases which caused the 
stocks to rise and fall all over the world. He was the 
Money King— 'the despot with the quill behind his ear,' 
whom John Randolph said he feared more than a tyrant 
with epaulettes. He could make money plentiful or 
scarce, property high or low, men rich or poor, as he 
pleased. He could reward and he could punish ; could set 
up and pull down. His favor was wealth, his enmity 
ruin. He was a government, o^^er which the people had 
no control. 

"Thus, it will be seen, with what exquisite tact the 
President presented the issue to the people. It was the 
issue of a powerful money oligarchy, in its last struggles 
for power denied by the people, warring against the 
government the people had set up. Jackson stood the 
impersonation of the popular sovereignty, warring 
against an usurping moneyed institution — an enormous 
shaving- shop. St. George and the Dragon was only 
the ante-type of Jackson and the Monster ! 

"The truth is, that what Jackson lacked of material 
to make head against the Bank, the Bank more than sup- 
plied. Biddle, its president, seems to have been a worse 
politician than financier. From the first hostile demon- 



374 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

stration of the President, to the final explosion of the 
new institution, into which the assets and management 
of the National Bank were carried, the whole series of 
movements was a series of blunders and follies. 

"If the Bank had been bent upon ruin, it could have 
taken no surer method of suicide. The opposition of 
its friends in Congress to an investigation into its 
affairs; its contributions towards the publication of 
political papers and pamphlets; its large loans to news- 
paper editors, and to members of Congress ; the immense 
extension of its line of discounts — these things, however 
innocent, naturally gave rise to suspicion, and suspicion, 
in its case, was conviction. The tone it adopted in its 
report, towards the President, or, rather, towards the 
paper sent to the cabinet, signed 'Andrew Jackson,' was 
in as bad taste, as policy. The truth is, the president of 
the bank greatly underrated the President of the United 
States. Jackson was a much abler man than Biddle sup- 
posed. The unlearned man of the backwoods knew the 
American people better than the erudite scholar of the 
refined metropolis. The tenant of the Hermitage was, 
by all odds, a wiser politician than the lord of the 
princely demesne of Andalusia. 

"It is true that the crisis was a sharp one. Great 
distress was felt, great clamor was raised, immense 
excitement prevailed. The storm burst suddenly, too, 
and with tropical fury. The President's friends fell off 
like autumn leaves in a hurricane. The party leaders 
grew anxious, many of them were panic-stricken, and 
some of them deserted; but the pilot at the helm stood 
like another Palinurus in the storm. The distress was 
confined mostly to the commercial cities. Jackson's 
reliance was mainly on the rural districts, and, luckily 
for him, these contained the great mass of the popula- 
tion, devoted to the calm and independent pursuit of 
husbandry, and devoted to him. The farmers were, to a 
great extent, independent of banks and free of debt, and 
depending for support upon the sale of necessaries, 
which generally commanded, under all states of the 
money market, remunerating prices. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 375 

''That there was great distress could not be denied. 
But whose fault was it? The Bank had laid the blame on 
the President ; the President laid it on the Bank. Which 
was to be believed? The immediate cause was the con- 
duct of the Bank in withdrawing its circulation ; but this 
was made necessary, it was said, by the withdrawal of 
the public money. This was denied; and it was charged 
that the Bank had, by the unnecessary and corrupt 
extension of its discounts and accommodations, put 
itself into the necessity of this sharp measure of protec- 
tion, even if such necessity existed. 

''But relief was at hand. The deposits were placed 
in the vaults of the State-banks. The United States 
Bank was out of the way. The funds of the Government, 
overflowing in all its channels of revenue, became the 
feeders to numberless Bogus banks all over the country. 
Bank charters multiplied in the land. A state of almost 
fabulous prosperity, as it seemed, set in. The revolution 
went back for the first time. But the calm was worse 
than the storm — the prosperity worse than the adver- 
sity. And here was the great, and, for a time as it 
turned out, the fatal error of the Democratic party. It 
had not provided for the exigencies it created. The 
United States Bank was put down, but where was the 
substitute? The bank had been the fiscal agent of the 
government, in fact the treasury ; what was to succeed to 
its duties? If the public money was not safe in the 
United States Bank, it could scarcely be considered safe 
in the various shin-plaster concerns that had sprung up, 
like toad-stools, all over the Union; nor could individ- 
uals, in such wild and uncertain times, especially without 
new restrictions and securities, be intrusted with the 
enormous sums coming into the hands of the govern- 
ment, when every man was a speculator, and every 
speculation seemed a fortune! It could scarcely have 
escaped the sagacity of the politicians, who were inveigh- 
ing, every day, against the evils of the credit and paper 
system, that this enormous banking, so suddenly and 
prodigiously increased, must, at no distant day, lead to a 



376 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

1^ ■ ■ 

monetary crisis, which, compared with that following the 
removal of the deposits, would be like a hurricane to a 
zephyr. But no adequate safeguard was provided. 
Present peace was purchased at the expense of future 
overthrow; and it was bequeathed to Mr. Van Buren to 
reap the whirlwind, from the wind sown by his 
predecessor. 

"But for the present, the sky cleared again. Jackson 
rallied his hosts. He recovered his lost ground; he 
regained his captured standards; he cashiered the 
deserters, and inspired throughout the country a fresher 
zeal for the party, and an almost superstitious conviction 
of his own invincibility." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 377 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

At the present time (December, 1909,) the number of 
persons holding office under the Federal Government is 
rapidly approaching 400,000. The National Treasury is 
like some monstrous cheese, with a million rats devour- 
ing it. In Washington City alone, there are 2,300 
negroes holding office under the Government, to say 
nothing of those drawing salaries from the District of 
Columbia. In a recent address to an audience of Wash- 
ington negroes, Booker Washington made the statement 
thtat the negro office-holders of that city were drawing 
$5,000,000 per year from the Federal Treasury. These 
figures are exaggerated, but extremely significant, as 
giving the Afro- American 's point of view. To him, the 
Government means an office and a salary. To hundreds 
of thousands of white men, it means the same thing. 
More lamentable still, the office means the opportunity 
to loot the treasury directly or indirectly. The pressure 
of the seekers for office upon the appointing powers, is 
tremendous. It killed President Harrison, and taxes to 
the limit of endurance such robust characters as Roose- 
velt and Taft. Inevitably growing out of this state of 
things, is the man lower down who does the real work, at 
the minimum salary. First Assistants, 2d Assistants, 
3d Assistants, 4th Assistatnts, are strung out, one 
behind the other ; and to each must be given a miniature 
staff of 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th Assistants. Then come one, 
two, three and four Secretaries; and each Secretary 
must have his "head stenographer," overlording other 
stenographers, typewriters, clerks, messengers — about 
three times as many people being employed as would be 
found necessary in a private establishment. 

But the bane of the Spoils System extends to the 
Army and Navy. Graft ramifies in all directions. In 
buying, the Government is swindled: in selling, it is 
betrayed. Custom-house officers are bribe-takers: one 
of the Trusts, at one of the Custom-houses has been 

2J a j 



378 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

caught stealing $3,000,000 from the Treasury, by the use 
of false weights— used with the connivance of Federal 
employees. In all of the shops and yards where the Gov- 
ernment has work done, the cost of a given article will 
be four times as much as a private citizen has to pay for 
the same thing. 

In fact, the whole enormous pressure of the office- 
seeking and office-holding multitude is to increase 
offices, increase salaries, increase expenses. Instead of 
having an orderly, experienced, regularly efficient corps 
of civil servants, such as we see in Great Britain, Ger- 
many, and France, we have a pell-mell turn-them-out, 
and a promiscuous put-new-ones-in, every four years. 
The position which may be occupied by an honest, com- 
petent, energetic man under one administration, may, 
under a change of Presidents, fall to some person whose 
''pull" is irresistible, but who has no qualifications for 
the office. 

Tha Spoils system makes it practically impossible 
for us to have the regular administration of the Civil 
Service kept in the hands of those who have proven that 
they are honest, capable and industrious. In spite of all 
attempts at reform, we are still debauched by the detest- 
able slogan, "To the victors belong the spoils." 

Under the old method of selecting the nominee for 
the Presidency, the people were absolutely assured of a 
trained statesman, of character and ability. The Jack- 
son men destroyed the Congressional caucus, in which 
the men whom the people had directly elected as their 
Representatives, chose the candidate for the Presidency. 
The specious pretense used was that the people them- 
selves should nominate. But they do not do so, and have 
never done so. Jackson himself was not the nominee of 
the people, but of a handful of keen, tireless, intrigueing 
wire-workers. True, the people elected him, over 
Adams, but that was another thing altogether. In our 
own day, the people do not nominate, and they have no 
real choice in the matter. 

Politicians make their slates, and pick out the dele- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 379 

gates to the national conventions of their respective 
parties ; at the conventions, log-rolling, bribery, promises 
of appointments to office, pledges to support certain 
measures, etc., are used by the workers for the various 
candidates to influence votes and win the nomination. 
When the victor is announced, and has been elected 
President, he finds that he has been mortgaged by his 
campaign managers ; and he must either pay the debt, or 
face a national scandal. Sometimes he does both. 

Study these conditions, and you will then be able to 
trace them to their h'storic source — the destruction of 
the Congressional caucus. I am not saying that the old 
method was ideal : what I do say is, that it was very much 
better than the system which took its place. No Con- 
gressional caucus would have nominated General 
Andrew Jackson; nor such unfit and inexperienced men 
as General Taylor, General Harrison, James Buchanan, 
James K. Polk, General Grant, and R. B. Hayes. 

In other words, the present method does not give the 
people any chance to put the best man into the White 
House. The politicians name the candidates, seeking, 
not the best, but the most available man. By ''avail- 
able," they mean "usable." When an unmanageable 
Roosevelt slips in, it is a political accident; and even he 
was "used" a great deal more than the general public 
imagines. 

Under President Washington, there was no such 
thing as a "pull." The only test applied to the office- 
seeker was the correct test — honesty, capacity, effi- 
ciency. If a clerk in one of the Departments reviled the 
administration in a newspaper, he was in no danger of 
removal, so long as he faithfully discharged his duties. 

The same rule prevailed under John Adams. How- 
ever, at the very close of b^s term, this President had the 
indecency to pack Federalists into every old place 
that was vacant, and into every new office that Congress 
had created. Jefferson, ir the main, followed the Wash- 
ington rule, and many a Federalist retained his position. 
So it was during the terms of Madison, Monroe and John 
Quincy Adams. 



380 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

But Jackson had declared, "I am not a politician; but 
if I were, I'd be a New York politician ! ' ' Events proved 
tbat he was a masterly strategist in politics, and that he 
was, to the tips of- his fingers, a New York politician. 

Before six months had rolled over his Presidential 
head, he had ousted from office a greater number of men 
than all his predecessors put together; and whereas 
nearly every one of those removed by former adminis- 
trations had gone out "for cause," Jackson swept them 
away on account of their politics. "They are not Jack- 
son men: off with their heads!" 

The faster the old officials were displaced, the fiercer 
became the pressure for appointments. Naturally: the 
more carcasses, the more eagles. "To the victors belong 
the spoils!" said the New York leader, William L. 
Marcy: and to Jackson, a military man, the maxim had 
the right sound. Even he almost grew frantic, at times, 
because of the increasing greed for office. He had cut 
the dyke, and the flood kept pouring in. 

Some of his removals were utterly cruel and inde- 
fensible. Adams had appointed General William Henry 
Harrison Minister to Bolivia during the expiring weeks 
of his term. One of Jackson's first acts was to recall 
this popular soldier— who had hardly reached his post 
before the blow fell. To inflict such a public humilia- 
tion upon so distinguished a fellow-citizen was alto- 
gether wrong. (Jackson lived to see Harrison become 
President.) 

Another case was thoroughly shocking. No man in 
public life could owe a greater debt of gratitude to 
another than Andrew Jackson owed to James Monroe. 
In every way possible, Jackson had received the benefit 
of Monroe's encouragement, support, and protection at 
the time when Jackson most needed them. According to 
one witness, Monroe had been at first the sole defender 
of Jackson's conduct in the Seminole War — his Cabinet 
being a unit against the General. Monroe was an old 
Revolutionary soldier: he had involved himself finan- 
cially by giving his personal pledges to the creditors of 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 381 

his country; and now, harrassed by debt and debility, 
had gone away from his beloved Virginia, to spend his 
last, sorrowful days in New York City, with his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Gouverneur. Her husband held the office of 
Postmaster of the City. With an almost incredible lack 
of gratitude, to say nothing of kindly feeling for a feeble 
old soldier and ex-President, Jackson smote his afflicted 
family by ousting Gouverneur from his office. It 
actually makes one sick to the soul to contemplate such 
politics as this — heartless, ungrateful, "New York 
politics!" 

Poor old James Monroe! One of the cleanest, 
straightest, most high-minded patriots this country ever 
produced. With what bitterness of heart must this ven- 
erable statesman, whose whole life had been unselfishly 
given to his country's service, have rallied his remaining 
strength to make and sign the dying declaration which 
averted the attack that Jackson was preparing to make 
upon his memory! (About that historical puzzle, the 
Rhea letter.) 

No wonder Henry Clay, old, broken, disappointed 
said to his son, "Be a dog rather than a politician." No 
wonder the great, black, sombre eyes of Daniel Webster 
carried, in his last years, the look of unutterable weari- 
ness and melancholy. No wonder that Calhoun wel- 
comed death, as the tired sentry greets the "relief." 

Extracts from S. S. Prentiss' ''Speech on Defalca- 
tions.'" 

"I hold in my hand a book of some four hundred pages, entitled, 
'Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting copies of 
reports of examinations of land offices since 1st January, 1834,' 
&c. It is Document 29 7, and was furnished the House by the Sec- 
retary on the 30th of March, 1838. It is the most extraordinary 
publication that ever fell under my observation. It is a moral, po- 
litical, and literary curiosity. If you are a laughing philosopher, 
you will find in it ample food for mirth; if you belong to the other 
school, you cannot but weep at the folly and imbecility which it 
exhibits. The Secretary must have been frightened when he com- 
piled it, for it is without form, and darkness rests upon its face. 
It contains two hundred and sixty letters to defaulting collectors 
and receivers; in some instances, from ten to twenty to the same 
defaulter; yet, so curiously is the book constructed, that you must 
read the whole of it to trace a single case. Its contents are as 



382 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

strange as the 'hell broth' that boiled and bubbled in the witches* 
cauldron. From this fragment of chaos I shall proceed to extract 
and arrange such matter as is material to my purpose; and first, to 
show, as I proposed, what Importance the Secretary attached to the 
duty of depositing the public moneys in bank, at stated periods, so 
that they might not accumulate in the hands of the collector, and 
thus afford temptation to defalcation." 

"But let us again take a birdseye view of this correspondence. 
Let us group it; without giving the exact language, we will take the 
meaning — the idea. 

"Letter 1st. Mr. H., 1' am sorry to tell you again, you haven't 
made your returns. 

"2d. Mr. H., you haven't made your returns. 

"3d. Mr. H., if you don't make your returns, I'll tell the 
President. 

"4th. Mr. H., you had better settle up; if you don't, out you go. 

"5th. Mr. H., please tell me why you haven't settled; do, that's 
a good man. 

"6th. Hr. H., now don't behave so. 

"7th. Mr. H., how would you feel if you were dismissed from 
office? Better pay up, or you'll know. 

"8th. Mr. H., it's lucky for you you've got strong friends; that's 
the reason we don't turn you out. But you'd better mind your eye. 

"9th. Mr. H., ain't you ashamed? 

"10th. Mr. H., perhaps you don't know it, but you are very 
much behindhand. Do you intend to pay or not? I wish you would. 
'Tis very strange you will hurt my feelings so, and the President's 
too. 

"11th. Mr. H., how comes it that you are a defaulter for $12 8,- 
884.70? I don't wish to hurt your feelings, but I should like to 
know. I have a curiosity on the subject; can't you tell me?" 

"12th. Mr. H., you've resigned, have you? Well, that beats 
anything. What a cunning dog you are! Feathered your nest 
well, ha? I'll tell the President all about it when he comes home. 
How he will laugh! 

"13th. Dear Mr. H., I regret to tell you that the rascally So- 
licitor of the Treasury is a-going to try and recover back that money 
you've got, which belongs to the Government. Never mind; we'll 
fix it some way. 

"Such is an epitome of the correspondence of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, and constitutional adviser of the President. What a 
rich specimen of an American statesman!" 

"It -was the time when 'Hurrah for Jackson' constituted the 
'Open Sesame' of power, which gained at once admittance into the 
robber's cave, and participation in the plunder. The General Jack- 
son had but to whistle, and 

" 'Instant from copse and heath arose 
Bonnets, and spears, and bended bows.' 

"His followers, like those of Roderick Dhu, started up in every 
direction, ready and eager to perform his bidding. He had but to 
point his finger, and his fierce bloodhounds buried their muzzles in 
the unfortunate victim of his wrath. Then was the saturnalia of 
the officeholders; and, like the locusts of Egypt, they plagued the 
land. Few dared to whisper of corruptions or defalcations; and 
bold man was he who proposed to investigate them, for it was sure 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 383 

to bring down upon his head tlie rage which never relented, and 
the anger which nothing but furious persecution could assuage. 

"There was one man, however, who blenched not before General 
Jackson's frown, and whq dared to propose an Investigation into 
frauds and corruptions which had become so palpable and gross as 
to be an offence in the nostrils of the community. He occupied, at 
that time, a seat in the other end of this building, as Senator from 
my own State; a State upon whose laws and institutions his talents 
and genius are indelibly impressed. The political history of Mis- 
sissippi is illustrated by his name, from its commencement. He 
served her in all her departments; and as legislator, judge, and 
Governor, advanced her prosperity, and added to her character. 
What he was as Senator you all know. He stood proudly among 
the proud, and lofty among the loftiest, at a time when the Senate 
Chamber contained the garnered talent of the country; when its 
intellectual giants shook the whole nation with their mighty strife. 
The floor of that body was his proper arena. To a cor- 
rectness of judgment, which would have given him reputation even 
without the capacity of expression, he joined a power of debate 
which, for parliamentary strength and effect, was unsurpassed. To 
all this was added a stern, unyielding attachment to his political 
principles, and an indomitable boldness in expressing and sustain- 
ing them. 

"Do you not recollect, s'r, when General Jackson, like Charles 
I., strode to the legislative chamber, and thrust among the Senators 
a despotic edict, more insulting than if he had cast at their feet a 
naked sword? It was that fierce message which commenced with 
breaking down the independence and character of the Senate, and 
finally resulted in that worse than felon act, the desecration of its 
records. But the mandate passed, not unopposed or unrebuked. 
When it burst, like a wild beast from his lair, upon the astonished 
body whose degradation it contemplated, and in the end accom- 
plished, most of the distiaguished Senators were absent; but he of 
whom I speak was at his post. Single-handed, and alone, like 
Codes at the head of the brigade, he held at bay the Executive 
squadrons, and for a whole day drove back the Mamelukes of power; 
till at the sound of nis voice, as at the sond of a trumpet, his gallant 
compeers, the champions of freedom, the knights — not of the black 
lines, but of the Constitution — came flocking to the rescue. Sir, it 
was a noble scene, and worthy of the best times of the Roman 
republic. A Senator of the United States, in bold and manly pride, 
trampl'ng under foot Executive insult, and protecting at the same 
time the honor of his country and the dignity of his high station. 
There was a moral chivalry about it, far above the heroism of the 
field. Even now, the contemplation of it makes the blood thrill 
through the veins, and flush the forehead to the very temples. I 
need not tell you that man's name was George Poind exter; a name 
that will long and honorably live among the lovers of independence 
and the haters of tyranny. But he dared to propose an investigation 
into the frauds and corruptions of the Government, and from that 
moment his doom was sealed. The deep, turbid, and resistless cur- 
rent of Jacksonism swept him from the State in whose service the 
best of his life had been expended; and, ostracized from her coun- 
cils, he became an exile in other lands. 

•'Sir, the office-holders in this country form an oligarchy too 

powerful to be resisted. Why was not S removed? Why 

was not H ? Why not L and B ? I will tell 

you. The Administration did not dare to remove them, even had 



384 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

it wished to do so; like pachas, they had become too powerful for 
the Sultan, and would not have hesitated in twisting the bowstring 
round the neck of the messenger who presented it. 

"Since the avowal of that unprincipled and barbarian motto, 
that 'to the victor belong the spoils,' office, which #as intended for 
the use and benefit of the people, has become but the plunder of 
party. Patronage is waved like a huge magnet over the land, and 
demagogues, like iron filings, attracted by a law of their nature, 
gather and cluster around its poles. Never yet lived the demagogue 
who would not take office. The whole frame of our Government, 
the whole institutions of the country are thus prostituted to the 
uses of party. I express my candid opinion, when I aver that I do 
not believe a single office of importance within the control of the 
Executive has, for the last five years, been filled with any other 
view, or upon any other consideration, than that of party effect; 
and if good appointments have in any instances been made, and 
benefits accrued to the country, it has been an accidental, and not 
a voluntary result. Office is conferred as the reward of partisan 
service; and what is the consequence? Why, the officeholders are 
not content with the pitiful salaries which afford only small com- 
pensation for present labors, but do not. in their estimation, consti- 
tute any adequate reward for their previous political services. This 
reward, they persuade themselves, it is perfectly right to retain 
'Toin rthate\er passes through their hands. Being taught that all 
moneys in their possession belong not to the people, but to the 
party, it reouires but small exertion of casuistry to bring them to 
the conclusion that they have a right to retain what they may con- 
ceive to be the value of their political services; just as a lawyer 
holds back his commissions. The Administration countenances all 
this; winks at it as long as possible; and when public exposure is 
inevitable, generally gives the bloated plunderer full warning and 
time to escape with his spoils. 

"Do you not see the eagerness with which even Governors, 
Senators and Representatives in Congress, grasp at the most trivial 
appointments — the most insignificant emoluments? Well do these 
sons of the horse-leech know that there is more blood in the body 
than what mantles the cheek, and more profit in an office than is 
exhibited by the salary. 

"Sir, I have given you but two or three cases of defalcations; 
would time permit, I could give you a hundred. Like the fair Sul- 
tana of the Oriental legends, I could go on for a thousand and one 
nights; and even as in those Eastern stories, so in the chronicles of 
the office-holders, the tale would ever be of heaps of gold, massive 
ingots, uncounted riches Why, sir, Aladdin's lamp was nothing to 
it. They seem to possess the identical cap of Fortunatus; some 
wish for $.50,000 some for $100,000, some for a million; and 
behold, it lies in glittering heaps before them. Not even 

" 'The gorgeous East, with richest hand. 
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold' 

in such lavish abundance as does this Administration upon its fol- 
lowers. Pizarro held not forth more dazzling lures to his robber 
band, when he led them to the conquest of the Children of the Sun. 
. . . These defalcations teach another lesson, and one well worth 
the cost, if we will but profit by its admonitions. They teach that 
the Sub-Treasury sj'stem is but the hotbed of temptation and 
^rime. They teach that the public treasure cannot be safely con- 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 385 

fided to individual custody. Sir, this Government may determine to 
watcti, like Turks, with jealous care, its golden harem; but it will 
seek in vain for the financial eunuchs who have the power to guard 
without the wish to enjoy." 

(Mark the exceeding beauty and finish of Prentiss' 
diction. The simile at the close of the extracts is a 
gem.— T. E. W.) 

PERTAINING TO THE JEFFERSONIAN ERA. 
Desckiption of Daniel Webster, 

"The person, however, who has succeeded in riveting 
most strongly the attention of the whole Union, is 
undoubtedly Mr. Webster. From the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence to that of Mexico, from Cape Sable to Lake 
Superior, his name has become, as it were, a household 
word. Many disapprove his politics, but none deny his 
great talent, his unrivalled fertility of argument, or his 
power, even still more remarkable, of rapid and compre- 
hensive induction. In short, it is universally believed 
by his countrymen, that Mr. Webster is a great man; 
and in this matter I certainly make no pretension to 
singularity of creed. Mr. Webster is a man of whom 
any country might well be proud. His knowledge is at 
once extensive and minute, his intellectual resources 
very great; and, whatever may be the subject of discus- 
sion, he is sure to shed on it the light of an active, acute, 
and powerful mind. 

' ' I confess, however, I did meet Mr. Webster under the 
influence of some prejudice. From the very day of my 
arrival in the United States, I had been made involun- 
tarily familiar with his name and pretensions. Gentle- 
men sent me his speeches to read. When I talked of vis- 
iting Boston, the observation uniformly followed, 'Ah! 
there you will see Mr. Webster.' When I reached Bos- 
ton, I encountered condolence on all hands. 'You are 
very unfortunate, ' said my f rends, ' Mr. Webster set out 
yesterday for Washington.' Whenever, at Philadelphia 
and Baltimore, it became known that I had visited Bos- 



386 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

ton, the question, 'Did you see Mr. Webster?' was a 
sequence as constant and unvarying as that of the 
seasons. 

"The result of all this was, that the name of Webster 
became invested in my ear with an adventitious caco- 
phony. It is not pleasant to admire upon compulsion, 
and the very pre-eminence of this gentleman had been 
converted into something of a bore. To Washington, 
however, I came, armed with letters to the unconscious 
source of my annoyance. The first night of my arrival 1 
met him at a ball. A dozen people pointed him out to my 
observation, and the first glance riveted my attention. T 
had never seen any countenance more expressive of 
intellectual power. 

"The forehead of Mr. Webster is high, broad, and 
advancing. The cavity beneath the eyebrow is remark- 
ably large. The eye is deeply set, but full, dark, and 
penetrating in the highest degree; the nose prominent, 
and well defined; the mouth is marked by that rigid 
compression of the lips by which the New Englanders 
are distinguished. When Mr. Webster's countenance is 
in repose, its expression struck me as cold and for- 
bidding, but in conversation it lightens up ; and when he 
smiles, the whole impression it communicates is at once 
changed. His voice is clear, sharp, and firm, without 
much variety of modulation ; but when animated, it rings 
on the ear like a clarion. 

"As an orator, I should imagine Mr. Webster's forte 
to lie in the department of pure reason. I can not con- 
ceive his even attempting an appeal to the feelings. It 
could not be successful ; and he has too much knowledge 
of his own powers to encounter failure. In debate his 
very countenance must tell. Few men would hazard a 
voluntary sophism under the glance of that eye, so cold, 
so keen, so penetrating, so expressive of intellectual 
power. A single look would be enough to wither up a 
whole volume of bad logic."— "Men and Manners in 
America." By T. Hamilton. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 387 

A Jacksonian Levee at the White House. 

*'0n the following evening I attended the levee. The 
apartments were already full before I arrived, and the 
crowd extended even into the hall. Three — I am not sure 
that there were not four — large saloons were thrown 
open on the occasion, and were literally crammed with 
the most singular and miscellaneous assemblage I had 
ever seen. 

"The numerical majority of the company seemed of 
the class of tradesmen or farmers, respectable men, 
fresh from the plough, or the counter, who, accompanied 
by their wives and daughters, came forth to greet their 
President, and enjoy the splendors of the gala. There 
were also generals, and commodores, and public officers 
of every description, and foreign ministers and members 
of Congress, and ladies of all ages and degrees of beauty, 
from the fair and laughing girl of fifteen, to the haggard 
dowager of seventy. There were majors in broadcloth 
and corduroys, redolent of gin and tobacco, and majors' 
ladies in chintz or russet, with huge Paris ear-rings, and 
tawny necks, profusely decorated with beads of colored 
glass. There were tailors from the board, and judges 
from the bench ; lawyers who opened their mouths at one 
bar, and the tapster who closed them at another; — in 
short, every trade, craft, calling, and profession, 
appeared to have sent its delegates to this extra-ordi- 
nary convention. 

"For myself, I had seen too much of the United 
States to expect anything very different, and certainly 
anticipated that the mixture would contain all the ingre- 
dients I have ventured to describe. Yet, after all, I was 
taken by surprise. There were present at this levee, 
men begrimed with all the sweat and filth accumulated in 
their day's — perhaps their week's — labor. There were 
sooty artificers, evidently fresh from the forge or the 
work-shop; and one individual, I remember — either a 
miller or a baker — who, wherever he passed, left marks 
of contact on the garments of the company. The most 
prominent group, however, in the assemblage, was a 



388 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

party of Irish laborers, employed on some neighboring 
canal, who had evidently been apt scholars in the doc- 
trine of liberty and equality, and were determined, on 
the present occasion, to assert the full privileges of 'the 
great unwashed.' I remarked these men pushing aside 
the more respectable portion of the company with a cer- 
tain jocular audacity, which put one in mind of the 
humors of Donnybrook. 

"A party, composed of the materials I have 
described, could possess but few attractions. The heat 
of the apartment was very great, and the odours — cer- 
tainly not Sabsean — which occasionally affected the nos- 
trils, were more pungent than agreeable. I, therefore, 
pushed on in search of the President, in order that, hav- 
ing paid my respects in acknowledgment of a kindness 
for which I really felt grateful, I might be at liberty to 
depart. My progress, however, was slow, for the com- 
pany in the exterior saloons were wedged together in a 
dense mass, penetrable only at occasional intervals. I 
looked everywhere for the President as I passed, but 
without success, but, at length, a friend, against whom I 
happened to be jostled, informed me that I should find 
him at the extremity of the most distant apartment. 

"The information was correct. There stood the 
President, whose looks still indicated indisposition, pay- 
ing one of the severest penalties of greatness ; compelled 
to talk when he had nothing to say, and shake hands 
with men whose very appearance suggested the precau- 
tion of a glove. I must say, however, that under these 
unpleasant circumstances, he bore himself well and 
gracefully. His countenance expressed perfect good- 
humour ; and his manner to the ladies was so full of well- 
bred gallantry, that having, as I make no doubt, the 
great majority of the fair sex on his side, the chance of 
his being unseated at the next election must be very 
small. 

"I did not, however, remain long a spectator of the 
scene. Having gone through the ordinary ceremonial, I 
scrambled out of the crowd the best way I could, and 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 389 

bade farewell to the most extraordinary scene it had ever 
been my fortune to witness. It is only fair to state, how- 
ever, that during my stay in Washington, I never heard 
the President's levee mentioned in company without an 
expression of indignant feeling on the part of the ladies, 
at the circumstances I have narrated. To the better 
order of Americans, indeed, it can not be painful that 
their wives and daughters should thus be compelled to 
mingle with the very lowest of the people. Yet the evil, 
whatever may be its extent, is, in truth, the necessary 
result of a form of government essentially democratic. 
Wherever universal suffrage prevails, the people are, 
and must be, the sole depository of political power. The 
American President well knows that his only chance of 
continuance in office, consists in his conciliating the 
favour of the lowest— and, therefore, most numerous- 
order of his constituents. The rich and intelligent are a 
small minority, and their opinion he may despise. The 
poor, the uneducated, are, in every country, the people. 
It is to them alone that a public man in America can 
look for the gratification of his ambition. They are the 
ladder by which he must mount, or be content to stand 
on a level with his fellow-men. 

"Under such circumstances, it is impossible there 
should be any exclusion of the real governors of the 
country wherever they may think proper to intrude. 
General Jackson is quite aware, that the smallest demon- 
stration of disrespect even to the meanest mechanic, 
might incur the loss of his popularity in a whole neigh- 
borhood. It is evident, too, that the class in actual pos- 
session of the political patronage of a community is, in 
effect, whatever be their designation, the first class in 
the State. In America, this influence belongs to the 
poorest and least educated. Wealth and intelligence are 
compelled to bend to poverty and ignorance, to adopt 
their prejudices, to copy their manners, to submit to 
their government. In short, the order of reason and 
common-sense is precisely inverted; and while the roots 
of the political tree are waving in the air, its branches 
are buried in the ground. 



390 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

''During the time I was engaged at the levee, my 
servant remained in the hall through which lay the 
entrance to the apartments occupied by the company, 
and on the day following he gave me a few details of a 
scene somewhat extraordinary, but sufficiently charac- 
teristic to merit record. It appeared that the refresh- 
ments intended for the company, consisting of punch 
and lemonade, were brought by the servants, with the 
intention of reaching the interior saloon. No sooner, 
however, were these ministers of Bacchus descried to be 
approaching by a portion of the company, than a rush 
was made from within, the whole contents of the trays 
were seized in transitu, by a sort of coup-de-main ; and 
the bearers having thus rapidly achieved the distribution 
of their refreshments, had nothing for it but to return 
for a fresh supply. This was brought, and quite as com- 
pendiously despatched, and it at length became appar- 
ent, that, without resorting to some extraordinary meas- 
pres, it would be impossible to accomplish the intended 
voyage, and the more respectable portion of the com- 
pany would be suffered to depart with dry palates and 
in utter ignorance of the extent of the hospitality to 
which they were indebted." — T. Hamilton, in ''Men and 
Manners in America." 

An Englishman Calls on Chaeles Caekoll op 

Caerollton. 

"While at Baltimore, I enjoyed the honour of intro- 
duction to Mr. Carroll, the last survivor of that band of 
brave men, who signed the declaration of their country's 
independence. Mr. Carroll is in his ninety-fifth year, 
yet enjoys the full use of all his faculties, and takes 
pleasure in social intercourse, which he enlivens by a 
fund of valuable anecdote. It was with great interest 
that I heard this aged patriot speak of the companions 
of his youth, Jay, Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton, and 
describe those scenes of stormy struggle, in which he 
had himself partaken with honourable distinction. Bal- 
timore, which now contains nearly eighty thousand 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 391 

inhabitants, he remembers a pretty fishing hamlet, of 
some half-dozen houses. But the progress of change 
throughout the whole Union has been equally rapid. 
Little more than half a century ago, the Americans were 
a handful of poor colonists, drivers of slaves and small 
traffic, in lumber and tobacco, from whom it was the 
policy of the mother country to squeeze all she could, and 
give nothing in return, which it might be at all profitable 
to keep. With a judicious economy of gibbets and jail 
room at home, she was so obliging as to accelerate the 
natural increase of population by the transmission of 
certain gentlemen and ladies, who, being found some- 
what awkwardly deficient in the ethics of property in 
their own country, were despatched to improve their 
manners on the plantations of Maryland and Virginia. 
Then, in her motherly care, she fenced in their trade 
with all manner of restrictions, which could in any way 
contribute to the replenishing of her own parental 
exchequer, and, to crown her benefits, condescended to 
export a copious supply of Lord Johns and Lord 
Charleses, to fill their empty pockets, and keep the 
people in good humor, with fine speeches, strong prisons, 
and a round military force. 

"All this Mr. Carroll remembers, but he has lived to' 
see a state of matters somewhat different. The colonies 
have disappeared, and in their place has risen a power- 
ful confederation of free States, spreading a population 
of twelve millions over a vast extent of fertile territory, 
and possessing a commerce and marine, second only toi 
those of that nation from whom they boast their descent. 
He beholds his countrymen as happy as the unfettered 
enjoyment of their great natural advantages, and insti- 
tutions of the broadest democracy, can make them. He 
sees whole regions, formerly the savage haunts of the 
panther and the wild Indian, covered with the dwellings 
of civilized and Christian man. The mighty rivers, on 
which a few wretched flats used to make with difficulty 
an annual voyage, he now sees covered with steam- 
vessels of gigantic size, and loaded with valuable mer- 



392 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

chandise. He has seen lakes in the very heart of a great 
continent, formerly approachable only by some adven- 
turous traveller, connected with the ocean by means of 
canals. In short, the lot of Mr. Carroll has been cast in 
what must ever be the most eventful period of his coun- 
try's history; and having- witnessed chan2:es so vast and 
extraordinary, and beheld the whole of his early com- 
panions, one by one, drop into the grave, this venerable 
patriot may well be content to follow them, happy till 
the last in the enjojTuent of the attachment of his family, 
and the esteem and reverence of his fellow citizens."* 

' ' Colonel Burr now lives in New York, secluded from 
society, where his great talents and extensive profes- 
sional knowledge, still gain him some employment as a 
consulting lawyer. 

"A friend of mine at New York inquired whether I 
should wish an interview with this distinguished person. 
I immediately answered in the affirmative, and a note 
was addressed to Colonel Burr, requesting permission to 
introduce me. The answer contained a polite assent, 
and indicated an hour when his avocations would permit 
his having sufficient leisure for the enjoyment of con- 
versation. At the time appointed, my friend conveyed 
me to a house in one of the poorest streets of the city. 
The Colonel received us on the landing-place, with the 
manners of a finished courtier, and led the way to his 
little library, which — judging from the appearance of 
the volumes — was principally furnished with works con- 
nected with the law. 

"Ini.person, Colonel Burr is diminutive, and I was 
much struck with the resemblance he bears to the late 
Mr. Percival. His physiognomy is expressive of strong 
sagacity. The eye keen, penetrating and deeply set ; the 
forehead broad and prominent; the mouth small, but dis- 
figured by the ungraceful form of the lips; and, the 



* "Mr. Carroll, since my return to England, has paid the debt 
of Nature. When the intelligence of his death reached Washing- 
ton, bcth Houses immediately adjourned, in testimony of respect 
for this 'ultimus Romanorum.' '' 

— T. Hamilton, in "Men and Manners in America." 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 393 

other features, though certainly not coarse, were 
irreconcilable with any theory of beauty. On the whole, 
I have rarely seen a more remarkable countenance. Its 
expression was highly intellectual, but I imagined I 
could detect the lines of strong passion mingled with 
those of deep thought. The manners of Colonel Burr 
are those of a highly bred gentleman. His powers of 
conversation are very great, and the opinions he 
expresses on many subjects marked by much shrewdness 
and originality. 

''When in England, he had become acquainted with 
many of the Whig leaders, and I found him perfectly 
versed in everything connected with our national 
politics. 

**It would be an unwarrantable breach of the confi- 
dence of private life, were I to publish any particulars 
of the very remarkable conversation I enjoyed with this 
eminent person. I shall, therefore, merely state, that, 
having encroached, perhaps, too long, both on the time 
and patience of Colonel Burr, I bade him farewell, with 
sincere regret, that a career of public life, which had 
opened so brilliantly, should not have led to a more for- 
tunate termination." — T. Hamilton, in "Men and Man- 
ners in America." 

How AN Ieish Heko Held the Foet. 

*'The post of Fort Stephenson had been unanimously 
declared worthless and untenable, by a council of offi- 
cers, of which the Hon. Lewis Cass, late Secretary of 
War, and General McArthur were members. Accord- 
ingly Croghan had been ordered to set fire to it and 
march to headquarters, before the enemy could reach it. 
This order, however, was not received by Major Crog- 
han, in consequence of Mr. Connor and the' Indians, by 
whom it was sent, getting lost in the woods, until the fort 
was surrounded by Indians, and retreat rendered impos- 
sible. Croghan then addressed the following note to 
Harrison : 

'Sir: — I have received yours of yesterday, ten o'clock, P. M., 
26 a j 



394 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

ordering me to destroy this place and retreat, which was received 
too late to be carried into execution. We have determined to main- 
tain this place; and by Heavens, we can.' 

''This note was written with the expectation that it 
would be intercepted by the enemy, and was designed to 
leave on them an impression of his strength. Harrison, 
not knowing this, regarded it as a refusal to obey, and 
accordingly on the evening of the 31st of July, he sent 
Colonel Wells to Fort Stephenson with a squadron of 
dragoons, to supersede Croghan and send him to head- 
quarters. When Croghan arrived and made this 
explanation, the General, pleased with the good policy 
which he exhibited, instantly reinstated him, with orders 
to evacuate the fort as soon as he safely could. The 
next day, the enemy, under Proctor, landed and sum- 
moned the post to surrender ; at the same time humanely 
informing the besieged that if they did not, the fort 
should be stormed and themselves given up to the toma- 
hawk and scalping-knif e ! Dickson, in person, accom- 
panied the flag which bore the summons, and was met by 
Ensign Shipp on the part of the garrison. Dickson 
begged Shipp to surrender for God's sake, as in the 
event of Proctor's taking the fort, they would all be 
massacred. Shipp replied, 'that when the fort was 
taken there would be none left to massacre.' At this 
juncture an Indian came up to Shipp and endeavored to 
wrest his sword from him. Shipp drew it on him and 
was about despatching him, when Dickson interposed 
and restrained the savage. Croghan, who had been 
standing on the ramparts, and had observed the insult 
offered to Shipp, called to him, 'Shipp, come in, and we 
will blow them all to hell.' Shipp went in, bidding 
Dickson's 'good-bye.' The cannonading then com- 
menced, and in twenty-four hours upwards of five hun- 
dred shot struck the works, though with little effect. 

"Croghan had but one piece of artillery, a six- 
pounder, which by his order was removed to he block- 
house and loaded with musket balls. On the evening of 
the next day the enemy determined to carry the works 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 395 

by storm. They advanced in two columns ; one led on by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Short, the other by Colonel Cham- 
bers. Under cover of the smoke of the fort, the men 
advanced until they came to the ditch, where they paused. 
Colonel Short rallied them, crying out to push on, 'and 
give the damned Yankees no quarters. ' The six-pounder, 
which had been placed at a masked embrasure in the 
block-house, at thirty feet distance from them, now 
opened, jDOuring death and destruction among them. Of 
those in the ditch few escaped. A precipitate retreat 
commenced. The column under Colonel Chambers was 
also routed by a severe fire from Captain Hunter's line; 
and the whole fled into an adjoining wood. Lieutenant 
Short and twenty-five privates were left dead in the 
ditch, and twenty-six were afterwards taken prisoners. 
The total loss of the enemy was one hundred and fifty 
killed and wounded. When night came on, the wounded 
in the ditch suffered indescribably. Croghan conveyed 
them water over the pickets, and opened a ditch through 
the ramparts by which they were invited to enter the 
fort. Let the reader compare this act of magnanimity 
with the conduct of Proctor at the River Raisin ! 

''In the night the combined force of the 'allies' com- 
menced a rapid and disorderly retreat, leaving part of 
their baggage and wounded behind them. For his act of 
gallantry on this occasion, Croghan was promoted to the 
rank of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel." 

Jesse Mercer, in the Hot Clark-Troup Fight. 

"The celebrated Jesse Merc6r was a moving spirit 
amidst the excited multitude, and Daniel Duffie, who, as 
a most intolerant Methodist, and an especial hater of the 
Baptist Church and all Baptists, was there also, willing 
to laj'^ down all ecclesiastical prejudice, and to go to 
Heaven even with Jesse Mercer, because he was a Troup 
man. 

"The Senate came into the Representative chamber 
at noon, to effect, on joint ballot, the election of Gov- 
ernor. The President of the Senate took his seat with 



396 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

the Speaker of the House, and in obedience to law 
assumed the presidency of the assembled body. The 
members were ordered to prepare their ballots to vote 
for the Governor of the State. The Secretary of the 
Senate called the roll of the Senate, each man, as his 
name was called, moving up to the clerk's desk, and 
depositing his ballot. The same routine was then gone 
through with on the part of the House, when the hat (for 
a hat was used) containing the ballots was handed to the 
President of the Senate, Thomas Stocks, of Greene 
County, who proceeded to count the ballots, and finding 
only the proper number, commenced to call the name 
from each ballot. Pending this calling the silence was 
painfully intense. Every place within the spacious hall, 
the gallery, the lobby, the committee-rooms, and the 
embrasures of the windows were all filled to crushing 
repletion. And yet not a word or sound, save the excited 
breathing of ardent men, disturbed the anxious silence 
of the hall. One by one the ballots were called. There 
were 166 ballots, requiring 84 to elect. When 160 ballots 
were counted, each candidate had 80, and at this point 
the excitement was so painfully intense that the Presi- 
dent suspended the count, and though it was chilly 
November, took from his pocket his handkerchief, and 
wiped from his flushed face the streaming perspiration. 
While this was progressing, a wag in the gallery sang 
out, 'The darkest time of night is just before day.' This 
interruption was not noticed by the President, who called 
out 'Troup!' then 'Talbot!' and again there was a 
momentary suspension. Then he called again, 'Troup- 
Talbot!' '82-82,' was whispered audibly through the 
entire hall. Then the call was resumed. 'Troup!' 'A 
tie,' said more than a hundred voices. There remained 
but one ballet. The President turned the hat upside 
down, and the ballot fell upon the table. Looking down 
upon it, he called, at the top of his voice, ' Troup ! ' The 
scene that followed was indescribable. The two parties 
occupied separate sides of the chamber. Those voting 
for Troup rose simultaneously from their seats, and one 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 397 

wild shout seemed to lift the ceiling overhead. Again, 
with increased vim, was it given. The lobby and the 
galleries joined in the wild shout. Members and spec- 
tators rushed into each others' arms, kissed each other, 
wept, shouted, kicked over the desks, tumbled on the 
floor, and for ten minutes this maddening excitement 
suspended the proceedings of the day. It was useless 
for the presiding officer to command order, if, indeed, 
his feelings were sufficiently under control to do so. 
When exhaustion had produced comparative silence, 
Duffie, with the full brogue of the County Carlow upon 
his tongue, ejaculated: '0 Lord, we thank Thee! The 
State is redeemed from the rule of the Devil and John 
Clarke.' Mercer waddled from the chamber, waving his 
hat above his great bald head, and shouting, 'Glory, 
glory!' which he continued until out of sight. General 
Blackshear, a most staid and grave old gentleman and a 
most sterling man, rose from his seat, where he, through 
all this excitement, had sat silent, folded his arms upon 
his breast, and, looking up, with tears streaming from 
his eyes, exclaimed: 'Now, Lord, I am ready to die!' 
Order was finally restored, and the state of the ballot 
stated, (Troup, 84; Talbot, 82,) when President Stocks 
proclaimed George M. Troup duly elected Governor of 
the State of Georgia for the next three years. 

"This was the last election of a Governor by the 
Legislature. The party of Clarke demanded that the 
election should be given to the people. This was done, 
and in 1825, Troup was re-elected over Clarke by a 
majority of seven hundred votes. It was during this last 
contest that the violence and virulence of party reached 
its acme, and pervaded every family, crciating animosi- 
ties which neither time nor reflection ever healed." 

James Buchanan Invites a Jacksonian Whack. 

"Shortly after Mr. Buchanan's return from Russia 
in 1834, to which country he had been sent by President 
Jackson in 1832, and immediately following his election 
to the Senate of the United States by the Legislature of 



398 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Pennsylvania, he called upon Old Hickory escorting a 
fair English lady, whom he desired to present to the head 
of the American nation. Leaving her in the reception- 
room down stairs, he ascended to the President's private 
quarters and found General Jackson unshaved, unkempt, 
in his dressing-gown, with his slippered feet on the fen- 
der before a blazing wood fire, smoking a corn-cob pipe of 
the old Southern school. He stated his object, when the 
General said he would be very glad to meet the handsome 
acquaintance of the new bachelor Senator. Mr. Buch- 
anan was always earful of his personal appearance, and, 
in some respects, was a sort of masculine Miss Fribble, 
addicted to spotless cravats and huge collars ; rather 
proud of a small foot for a man of his large stature, and 
to the last of his life what the ladies would call ' a very 
good figure.' Having just returned from a visit to the 
fashionable Continental circles, after two years of 
thorough intercourse with the etiquette of one of the 
stateliest courts in Europe, he was somewhat snockecl at 
the idea of the President meeting the eminent English 
lady in such guise, and ventured to ask if he did not 
intend to change his attire, whereupon the old warrior 
rose, with his long pipe in his hand, and, deliberately 
knocking the ashes out of the bowl, said to his frienci: 
'Buchanan, I want to give you a little piece of advice 
which I hope you will remember. I knew a man once 
who made his fortune by attending to his own business. 
Tell the lady I will see her presently. ' 

"The man who became President in 1856 was fond of 
saying that this remark of Andrew Jackson humiliated 
him more than any rebuke he had ever received. He 
walked down stairs to meet his fair charge, and in a very 
short time President Jackson entered the room, dressed 
in a full suit of black, cleanly shaved, with his stubborn 
white hair forced from his remarkable face, and, advanc- 
ing to the beautiful Britisher, saluted her with almost 
kingly grace. As she left the White House she exclaimed 
to her escort, 'Your Republican President is the royal 
model of a gentleman.' " 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 399 

A Glimpse of Clay, in His Old Age. 

"Toward the close of Mr. Clay's life, one Carter 
Beverly, of Virginia, wrote Mr. Clay some account of the 
part he himself had taken in the concoction of this 
slander, craving his forgiveness. (The "bargain and 
corruption" charge which damaged Clay so much.) 
This letter was received by Mr. Clay while a visitor at 
the home of the writer, and read to him: it dissipated all 
doubts upon the mind of Mr. Clay, if any remained, of 
the fact of the whole story being the concoction of 
Buchanan. Creemer was a colleague of Buchanan, and 
was a credulous Pennsylvanian, of Dutch descent; 
honest enough, but without brains, and only too willing 
to be the instrument of his colleague in any dirty work 
which would subserve his purposes. 

"He struggled to believe Buchanan was wronged by 
General Jackson; but one fact after another was 
developed — he could not doubt — all pointing the same 
way; and finally came this letter of Beverly's, when he 
was old and when his heart was crushed by the loss of 
his son Henry at Buena Vista, of which event he had 
only heard the day before : he doubted no more. I shall 
ever remember the expression of that noble countenance 
as, turning to me, he said: 'Read that!' Rising from 
his seat, he went to the garden, where, under a large live- 
oak, I found him an hour after, deeply depressed. It was 
sorrow, not anger, that weighed upon him." — Sparks: 
"Memories of Fifty Years." 



400 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

"Jackson was of great assistanqp to me in my War 
upon the Bank." So spake Thomas Benton, who in his 
public speeches in Missouri, always alluded to himself in 
the third person, pronouncing the name ''Banetun." 
This self-complacent remark is usually cited as a humor- 
ous exhibition of monumental vanity, but it contains 
more than a grain of truth. Benton had long been the 
determined foe of the Bank, and he was the colossus of 
the Congressional assault upon it. When the historical 
estimates of American Statesmen come to be revised, for 
final record, Clay will be taken down, a peg or two; 
Daniel Webster will not rank so high; and both Calhoun 
and Benton will go up higher. 

Clay was bold enough and far sighted enough to 
stand for the governmental ownership of the telegraph; 
but he was ruinously wrong on finance and taxation. No 
principle more fatal to an equitable distribution of 
wealth, and, therefore, to civilization itself, can be con- 
ceived than "The American System" of Henry Clay. 
The law which, under the guise of protecting me in my 
business, deprives you of your property and gives it to 
me, cannot be consistent with sound morals, or national 
happiness. The beneficiaries of such- legislation are 
humanly bound to become increasingly powerful, 
rapacious, and unscrupulous. The victims of the system 
necessarily multiply in numbers and in wretchedness. 

One of the American millionaires, Joseph Fels, (a 
soap manufacturer) rather startled the country a few 
years ago, by saying, publicly, that such men as himself 
and Carnegie and Rockefeller and Morgan "felt like 
robbers." That is just what they are. Such a remark 
is a natural tribute to the "statesmanship" of Henry 
Clay. 

The truth is, Clay found it so easy to win his way by 
oratory, boldness of initiative and magiietic manners 
that he never studied any question thoroughly. He was 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 401 

a shallot thinker, a weak reasoner, a superficial lawyer, 
and a President-seeking statesman. 

In the recently published correspondence of John C. 
Calhoun, it astonished me to find a letter written to an 
influential South Carolinian, in which Mr. Calhoun urged 
a system of State-built railroads. 

The Federal Government was returning some thirty 
odd million dollars to the States. It was a surplus and 
the banks did not demand and get it, as they do now- 
adays — and as they have done ever since President 
Cleveland set the noble, patriotic precedent. 

No: Jackson divided the Surplus among the States, 
to whose people it belonged. 

How differently these things are managed, in our 
own day and time ! To keep it from competing with the 
banker's interest-bearing currency, $150,000,000 in gold 
lies idle in the Treasury, under the cynical pretense of 
redeeming Greenbacks, which nobody wants redeemed 
and which the law says shall be immediately reissued, if 
redeemed ! 

Besides this favor to the banks, our good and great 
Government — the best on earth ! leaves among the banks, 
permanently, vast sums of the peoples' money, which the 
people may borrow from the banks, if they can furnish 
good collateral! 

Does any other government outrage the commonalty 
in that manner? Is any other nation under the sun so 
remorselessly, so openly, so calamitously operated in the 
interest of a privileged few? Are the masses — any- 
where on the globe ! so mercilessly plundered as ours are? 

Not anywhere else in the wide, wide world! 

But — coming back to Calhoun — when the Surplus 
was divided among the States, the long-headed States- 
man advised that the States use it to build railroads. He 
urged that South Carolina, and Georgia should construct 
trunk lines from the Atlantic seaboard to the Missis- 
sippi, and he suggested substantially the routes which 
have since been utilized. 

When you reflect upon what might have been the 



402 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

result of the adoption of Calhoun's plan, you cannot 
withhold your admiration of his broad, far-sighted 
statesmanship. 

His financial views — not at the beginning of his 
career, but farther on — ^were equally sound. He favored 
an exclusively governmental system — money issued 
directly to the people, without the intermediary banker, 
and consisting of fiat gold, fiat silver, and fiat paper. 

How great is the hypnotic power of a word ! People 
grow scared when you talk of issuing "fiat money." All 
money is now, and ever has been, "fiat" money. That 
is, the law, and not Nature, creates it. 

Had Mr. Calhoun's financial views prevailed, and 
become our settled policy, this country would not now be 
at the mercy of the Money Trust, with its vast federation 
of uncontrollable, irresistible billions. 

Benton's distinguishing merit is, that he foresaw, as 
Jefferson did, the destiny of the West. Not only that, 
Benton's unerring sagacity took in the fact that the West 
meant the Orient also. 

While the statesmen of greater popularity and wider 
renown were surrendering, as not worth contending for, 
the magnificent territory which now lies in Canada, and 
to which thousands of our best farmers have rushed and 
are still rushing, Benton had grasped the importance of 
every square mile of it. While Webster, with an imperial 
gesture, was asking, "What is all this wilderness 
worth?" and answering his own question, to his com- 
plete satisfaction with the word, ' ' Nothing, ' ' Benton was 
picturing to the business men of St. Louis the gorgeous 
future of Western development and Oriental trade. 

Recurring to Benton, Jackson and the Bank. The 
indispensable man, is ever entitled to his fame; and 
Thomas H. Benton was the indispensable man of that 
combat. Without a Jackson to storm at those delega- 
tions which the bankers sent to shake his resolution, 
Benton could not have held his own in Congress. The 
united strength of The Great Trio would have rescued 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 403 

Biddle and his Bank. No other man had the mental and 
physical fibre — the adamantine strength — to stand up to 
Webster, Clay and Calhoun day after day, night after 
night, week after week, as old Tom Benton did. 

And — most pugnacious of men! he wouldn't let the 
Big Three off, with merely killing Biddle 's Bank. He 
never rested until he compelled the Senate to draw black 
lines around the resolution which condemned Jackson's 
removal of the deposits, and to write the word 
''Expunged" upon it. The rough, tough, gruff old 
fighter had "The Great Trio" completely whipped! 

Jackson was, of course, intensely gratified; and he 
gave a formal banquet in honor of Benton and his loyal 
colleagues. 

The feeling comes over me that I have lingered long 
enough over this story; and while there is a certain 
melancholy which depresses me in the completion of a 
book, I will bring this one to a rapid conclusion. 

Eeally, there is not much more to tell. Upon the 
Texan revolt from Mexico a stirring chapter could be 
written ; but that will come into my ' ' Story of the South 
and West," which I take up next. 

The old claims against France, growing out of the 
seizure of merchant vessels during the Napoleonic wars, 
were adjusted by treaty; but the money was not forth- 
coming. Jackson flew into one of his furies, and sent a 
message to Congress that was terribly insulting to 
France. Whereupon, Frenchmen began to " Sacre 
Blue"! and to dance with rage. Ministers were recalled, 
war-talk was in the air, and the two nations were dead- 
locked. 

Strange to say, Jackson's administration had been 
most cordial to' England, despite the furrow in his head, 
where the British officer had gashed him with his sword 
for refusing to clean his boots. At this crisis, when 
Jackson had the whole situation "balled up," (as in 
Florida when he was Governor) Great Britain offered 
her mediation. It was accepted, and the matter was 



404 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

soon arranged to the satisfaction of all parties. France 
paid the money, and the incident added immensely to the 
European prestige of Old Hickory and his country. 

He named and elected his own successor; and Mr. 
Van Buren splendidly reaped the whirlwind where his 
illustrious predecessor sowed the wind. State banks 
had sprung up like mushrooms, wild-cat money flooded 
the country, speculation became a craze, prices bounded 
upward, and the whole country was in a fever. 

Down came Jackson's "Specie Circular," ordering 
land agents to demand gold and silver in payment of 
public domain. It was "Resumption," without due 
notice. It was "Contraction," by stroke of lightning. 
Just how much disaster was the consequence, no human 
being can estimate. The storm was fearful, and the 
wreckage was immense. Of course, the President should 
have issued the circular sooner, and given the country 
time for preparation. To revolutionize commercial 
methods so radically and so suddenly was a political 
error of the gravest magnitude. 

Jackson himself escaped most of the trouble, but Van 
Buren couldn't. His administration was a failure. If 
he had had a policy, he could not have carried it out, for 
Congress was against him. In fact, he was cordially 
disliked and deeply distrusted. Popular nicknames gen- 
erally hit the bull's eye, and his was "the Kinderhook 
Fox." 

When Andrew Jackson took his leave of the White 
House his popularity seemed undiminished. At Van 
Buren 's inauguration, the crowds paid no attention to 
"Matty." It was the white-haired old Chief that eager 
eyes singled out — that resonant voices cheered. The old 
man was very feeble, worn, emaciated; and those who 
looked upon him must have felt that they would see him 
no more. And to be able to say that they had seen 
Andrew Jackson, was something that three-fourths of 
the people considered a source of patriotic pride. 

He went home to be received as Tennessee always 
received him — the hero of whom she was enthusiastically 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 405 

and affectionately proud. At the Hermitage lie found 
things in a bad way. The Donelsons of Jackson's imme- 
diate circle were poor managers, and his adopted son 
was a Donelson. Heavy losses had been suffered, and 
the aged soldier was under the necessity of borrowing 
$10,000 for his pressing obligations. His friend Francis 
Blair was the lender. 

Of course, he soon had his fine plantation on the self- 
supporting basis; and we hear of no further financial 
worries. He continued to take the liveliest interest in 
politics, and retained great influence. He was not able, 
however, to give Little Van a second term. In fact, ' ' the 
Kinderhook Fox" was never liked in Tennessee; and he 
failed to carry it even when he gained the Presidency. 
Judge Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, carried both his 
own State and that of Georgia. 

But for Jackson's feud with Col. John "Williams, 
which drew into it his brother-in-law. Judge White, it is 
highly probable that Jackson would have chosen the able, 
upright and accomplished Tennessean as his political 
heir. There is no doubt that this feud weakened Jackson 
in his own State, and lost Tennessee to the Demo'cratic 
party. The Hermitage precinct went against Jackson's 
candidate, three to one! 

Whatever chance Van Buren had for a re-election 
was lost by his opposition to the annexation of Texas. 
In playing for Northern support, he lost much more at 
the South than he won elsewhere. During the campaign, 
Jackson did his utmost for ''Matty." Among other 
things, he wrote and published a letter criticising Gen- 
eral Harrison's military achievements, and stating that 
he did not have a high opinion of Harrison as a soldier. 
The letter did Van Buren no good. 

The old hero was highly gratified when Tennessee 
went for James K. Polk ; but as Polk was a popular, oft- 
honored native of the State and the Texas question was 
in the campaign, and the rival candidate was the tactless, 
head-strong Henry Clay — whose own letter-writing 
ruined his chances — I can't see any Jacksonian victory 
in Polk's election. 



406 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

Indeed, it is evident to me that his persistence in 
politics began to be resented. It had too much the 
appearance of dictation. 

The General joined the church, and became very 
devout. He was fond of the society of preachers, who 
were ever welcome guests at the Hermitage. 

His health was very bad during these closing years; 
and his strength gradually declined. A mis-step and 
stumble on the stair-way, one night in the White House, 
had wrenched open the falsely healed wound inflicted by 
Dickinson's bullet. Internal bleeding set in and Jack- 
son's sufferings were great. Frequent hemorrhages, 
and a hacking cough plagued him so constantly during 
his Presidency that he was seldom a well man. 

As he neared his end, his powers of endurance were 
taxed terribly. First, he would be gaspingly weak from 
violent diarrhea; and, then, would come dropsical swell- 
ings which puffed him from head to heel. The swelling 
disappeared when the bowel trouble seized him, only to 
return when it let go. It was an agonizing approach to 
the grave. Weaker after each crisis of his alternating 
attacks, regaining less of his strength after each, he was 
fully sensible of his nearness to death. But no one could 
have been more reconciled to it, and none could have 
borne the pain with greater patience and fortitude. He 
made no complaint, had no fears, suffered without a 
groan, was tenderly considerate of all who approached 
him. Many and many a night he could not lie down; 
many and many a day he was horribly racked by pain. 
But through the guard of this self-restrained, iron- 
willed soldier, could pass no word of weakness, of use- 
less concession to disease. 

On the very last day of his life, he "preached as fine 
a sermon," as those about had ever heard, holding forth 
an hour on religion. His kinspeople and his friends 
were in his room: the negroes were at the doors and 
windows. It was a wonderful spectacle — that of the 
cock-fighter, the deadly duelist, the inexorable military 



LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 407 

chieftain, the fiery party-leader, the hero of New 
Orleans, preaching a sermon as he died! 

Alexander perished in a debauch : Caesar met sudden 
death with godlike composure: Hannibal drank poison: 
Frederick the Great, died like an unfeeling stoic : Wash- 
ington, without a word which proved that his mind was 
on anjiihing save himself and his property: John 
Adams' ''I yet live," shows where his thoughts were: 
Jefferson, the amiable and unflinching Deist, had already 
delivered his message. 

But Andrew Jackson, whose place is away up toward, 
the top in the class of great men, spent his last hours 
''preaching as good a sermon as I ever heard." 

Not a man of books, not a man of great mental depth, 
but one whose practical head was clear within its own 
range — with instincts and intuitions which supplied the 
place of reasoning — he had witnessed the effects of reli- 
gion on the lives of men and women ; and he believed in 
it, most profoundly. It was enough for him that the 
good Christians whom he knew took the Bible as the 
very word of God. I don't suppose he had the faintest 
conception of the Buddhist, Mohammedan, or Confucian 
creeds ; and, to Andrew Jackson, the man who said in his 
heart, or otherwise, that there was no personal God, no 
actual malignant Devil, no real physical hell, no Heaven 
with many mansions and harping angels, was indeed a 
most aggravating fool. 

He told all the weeping attendants, white and black, 
to meet him in Heaven. And he said what all true hus- 
bands say of all good wives, that, if he did not meet his 
darling there, it would not be Heaven to him. 

After he had ended his sermon, he sat quietly in his 
chair. He knew the rider of the pale horse was very 
near. But not the slightest regret nor misgiving crept 
into his soul. No : indeed. Andrew Jackson had always 
done what he had made up his mind to do. His self- 
confidence had always been sublime. He had not had the 
slightest doubt that he would whip the Bentons, kill 
Dickinson, crush the Indians, destroy the British, coerce 



408 LIFE AND TIMES OF JACKSON. 

France, demoralize the Spanish, rout Calhoun, burst 
Biddle's bank, repulse and overthrow the Great Three. 
One day on deep water, the boat was being knocked 
about by big waves, and a man with him expressed 
anxiety. Old Jackson looked at him with those fierce 
blue eyes and said, 

"I see, sir, that you have never been much with me." 

Caesar had said virtually the same thing, under prac- 
tically the same circumstances. 

And now the indomitable man was in his last fight — 
with Death and the Devil — and he was just as sure of 
winning it as he had been at Horse-shoe Bend, or New 
Orleans. 

He had made up his mind to go to Heaven, and he was 
going. No doubts about it at all : he was going. 

And so groat is the impression made by unbending 
determination and unvarying success that the papers, 
soon after Jackson's death, were circulating a dialogue 
between two New Yorkers, one of whom said that Jack- 
son was in Heaven, and the other, asking how such a 
thing could be known to be a fact, received the answer: 

''Andrew Jackson said he was going to Heaven, and 
as he had made up his mind to go, you may be certain 
that he is there." 

The release of the dying man was painless. He had 
remained seated in his chair, and one of his last acts was 
to greet his old friend, Col. Lewis. "You like to have 
been too late," Jackson remarked to him calmly. Then, 
he put on his spectacles to see some of the children, bet- 
ter. Then he sat with eyes closed for a space, free from 
pain. Easily, like one going to sleep, he went to sleep — 
the head which nodded forward, and which met the sup- 
porting hand of William Lewis, being cold in death. 

It was the 8th of June, 1845. 

THE END 









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